The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-09-01 00:00:00

GRAND J UNCTION RAILWAY

The following are the Times of Departure from Lime-street
Liverpool, and from Livcrpool.road, Manchester :
TINIES OF DEPARTURE
FROM LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER TO BIRMINGHAM,
3 30 a.m. First Class, joins London Train at S 30 a.m.
6 a.m. Mixed PP is

8 15 a.m. First Class
10 30 a.m. First Class
12 15 p.m. First Class
4 p.m. Mixed
7 p.m. First Class
FROM BIRMINGHAM TO LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER
2 15 a.m. First Class—Meets N. Union Train to Preston
at Parkside.

1 15 p.m
4 p.m,
6

Look at the Course of business in the House of Lords, and
you will observe that the Duke of Wellington is the presiding
spirit of that assembly. Nothing is done—nothing could be
done—without him, for he carries with him the proxies of all
the thinking, experienced, far-seeing, influential of his
countrymen. Is a new measure introduced for the settle-
ment of some great national dispute the first question is,
" What will the Duke say to it ?" Is a compromise to be
effected between contending parties in the state, on some
question of religion, constitutional reform, or general home
policy ? The Duke dictates the terms, and whatever he sug-
gests is ultimately adopted. Is our foreign policy under dis-
cussion—is the front we ought to present to the world disfi-
gured and weakened by party dissension ?—who is the first to
rally all the combatants under one great national standard,
by reminding them that Englishmen have ever been united
against a foreign enemy, and that the arm that is to strike
the strong blow must not be paralyzed by the indecision of
the head ? The Duke of Wellington !

But it may be answered that the Duke of Wellington pos-
sesses all this influence by virtue of his leadership of a
powerful party. Of course this means that any other leader
of the conservatives would possess as much, or it means no-
thing. It is a monstrous fallacy. Undoubtedly the man
who has the confidence of a body so influential must always
be great and powerful ; but the Duke of Wellington's claims
are almost entirely personal. It is to himself alone that all
this silent homage is paid. Even were he to retire from ac-
tive life to-morrow, still would he be followed into his re-
tirement by political pupils, eager to imbibe those distilla-
tions of practical wisdom which his sagacity extracts fro
his vast stores of experience.
'The fundamental basis of this power is high military repu-
tation; though that aline would not have secured it unless
accompanied by his firm principles and habits of observation.
England differs from France in this respect,—that, while our
neighbours are more ready to elevate talent above property
than we are, they are less choice as to the degree of the talent
which they exalt. But if the English once know that they
possess a first-rate' man, they place him from that hour se-
curely on an eminence, whence he may look down, as from
the heavens, upon wealth, rank, blood, and every earthly
distinction. The Duke of Wellington is a first-rate man,
and his countrymen acknowledge it with pride. But his
mind is sue genep-is. His qualities are eminently useful—he
could never have condescended to be brilliant. His mind is
of that iron mould that defies alike warping, meretricious
polish, or demolition. He looks to the practical common
sense bearing of every subject brought under his notice.
His first aim is the public good ; his next how to attain that
good with the least departure from established principles of
policy. He is an utilitarian, without the absurdities of the
Benthamites. This practical turn of mind, joined as it is to
a far-seeing and prophetic spirit has contributed to confirm in
the minds of his countrymen the admiration and influence
which his military genius and success first created. They re-
pose the utmost confidence in his sagacity. He is a party in
himself. Whatever is essential to the national reputation, the
welfare of the whole people, and above all, to the stability of pro-
perty, is sure to be origmated, or, at all events, warmly supported
by him. For this reason a revolution never could have oc-
curred under the government of the Duke. He has too in-
tense a horror of the evils of civil contention ever to have al-
lowed matters to come to that pass. This, it will be admitted,
is a quality rarely to be found in a soldier, too, of such an
inflexible cast as the Duke. Not less intense is his regard
for national faith and honor. He would maintain the honor
of the state at any expense, even of his own personal preju-
dices on home politics ; for the Duke, like all strong-minded
men, has his prejudices. He has vanquished, and obtained
the mastery of, the spirit of change, by showing that he can
curb it, while he does not affect to play the tyrant over it. He
knows when to be firm and when to yield. Many acts of the
Duke of Wellington, in the course of his political career, that
have called forth unlimited censure, have been based upon
calculations which only so well-tutored and so well-stored a
mind could have made.

It is an intellectual treat of the highest order to see the
Duke of Wellington's demeanour in the House of Lords. It
is essentially different from that of every other man there.
He is almost the only unfettered man in the house. Others
are fettered by obstacles which they create for themselves,
in various ways, by the too eager pursuit of personal or party
objects. But the Duke of Wellington's high reputation and
standing place him above all such considerations. Ile can
afford to speak the truth, and he does speak it on all occa-
sions fearlessly. While other speakers, on either side of the•
House, have been wasting their powers in fruitless eloquence
(mere personal display,) or in perverting the truth for the
purpose either of unfair attack or unfair defence, the Duke
of Wellington has appeared to be paying not the slightest at-
tention to the proceedings. He has sat absorbed in thought,
or at least in seeming indifference, You would almost sup-
pose that, overcome by fatigue or indisposition, he was in re-
pose, so perfectly motionless and silent is be, reclining with
folded arms, his legs stretched out to their full length, and
his hat over his brow. The question has been discussed,
argued, quarrelled upon for hours. No result seems to have
been come to, and you are as ignorant of the object and scope
of the measure as when the debate began; nor have you any
clear idea of what will become of the bill. But at length the
Duke of Wellington rises, advances abruptly to the table,
wraps the tails of his coat like a dressing-gown over his legs,
and plunges at once in medics res. There is an undivided
attention while he speaks—indeed it is sometimes abso-
lutely necessary, for when indisposed, he is often with
difficulty heard even by those near to him, But in a
moment you see that his mind is still as vigorous as ever.
His keen intelligence pierces at once to the very core of the
subject. No fallacy can blind or deceive the Duke of Wel-
lington. He knows why the measure was introduced, what
it is, what it will do, and what will become of it. He grap-
ples with it in the spirit of a statesman. He is a guardian of
the interests of the nation ; he is the parliamentary trustee
of the people ; he is bound to look to their interests as a
whole, for by the people he understands not those who bawl
loudest of their rights, but those who trust the maintenance
of their privileges and their interests to parliament, in silent
faith. He never forgets the salus populi. The clap-trap
maxims of liberalism, on the other hand, meet from him with
just as much credence and attention as they deserve. He
measures the length, breadth, and thickness of the bill before
him—calculates with his unerring precision and practical
wisdom, the effect which it will have either on the happiness
of the people, or on the social or political constitution of the
country. According to its value for good or for evil, does
the Duke of Wellington support or oppose it ; and from that
hour its fate is usually decided. Why ? Because the nn-
bending, unflinching honesty of the man, and his political
sagacity, have created him a character unprecedented in the
annals of his country. His style of speaking is what might
be expected from his character—plain, simple, straightfor-
ward. His sentences are short and pithy—his language
clear and lucid ; his delivery abrupt. When he makes a
point, it falls on the mind with the force of a sledge ham-
mer. His voice reminds one of that of an officer giving
the word of command : he lays emphasis, short and some-
what harsh, on the leading word or words of the sentence,
and speaks the rest in an under tone. The arts and tricks
of the orator he wholly disdains. They are foreign to the
genius of his mind. They would be out of place in his
speeches, which depend for their interest and their value
upon their simplicity, their truthfulness, and their common
sense. For the same reason, he never attempts to impose
on the house a fictitious enthusiasm or a pretended excite-
ment. If the Duke of Wellington gets excited—and he will
sometimes get into a terrible passion at any infringement of
constitutional integrity or breach of discipline—there is no
mistaking it for a mere prepared climax to a speech ; he is
completely possessed by the demon. The only action he ever
uses is on such occasions, and then it is almost convulsive.
His arms and legs seem no longer to be under control—they
quiver, and shake, and tremble ; and the clenched fist vio-
lently and frequently struck upon the table, denotes that
some very potent feeling of indignation is, for the time, mas-
tering the usual calmness of this self-possessed man. Yet
though at times I have seen him thus carried away by his
feelings, I have not known his ultimate judgment of a mea-
sure impaired by it. He can cauterise or cut out the can-
kered part, and yet preserve all that was not offensive to his
sense of right and wrong. Those who have read the speeches
of the Duke will have remarked the intensely British feeling
that pervades them. He is like the old Romans in his ad-
miration and love for his country and her institutions. The
same feeling breathes in his speeches. The same magnani-
mous brevity that marked the public declarations of that
haughty people dignifies the addresses of the Duke of Wel-
lington. His denunciations are like the alarum of a war-
trumpet.
There is yet another phase of the character of this illus-
trious man that has to be glanced at. By a singular and
glorious pre-eminence in wisdom he is always selected as the
referee in quarrels or dilemmas. Delicacy forbids more than
alluding to an instance where the feelings of the highest per-
sonage in the realm and a. near connection were involved.
Less scruple attaches to a reference to the unhappy case of
Lady Flora Hastings. The duke was the active arbiter in
that melancholy affair. I could mention others, but that
they are shielded by the privileges of private life. He is not
less often referred to in political matters. He seems to be
recognised as moderator-general to the nation—an invaluable
evidence of the influence which integrity and high character
still hold in this changink country. •

The Duke of Wellington's personal appearance and his
dress are in strict 'accordance with his general character.
Both are quite plain and simple. Although 71 years of age,
the duke is still hale. His countenance bears but few marks
of age, except its venerable aspect. He always has an air of
abstraction. Not above the middle height, his frame is
compact and well built, one of those iron constitutions which
defy time and the elements. His dress consists of a plain
blue frock coat and snow-white trousers ; and in the winter
he frequently comes down to the hoUse in a long military
cloak,, which he wraps round him in'the evening. On some
occasions, when going to dine with the Queen, or to celebrate
an anniversary, he comes in full dress, decorated with orders.
His general demeanournancacsosrudnisiwng, ithytehtethreerset oisf
ahliasteanptpseealrf:
appear-
ance. It is perfectly
possession which command your respect. LORGNETTE.

BIRMINGHAM AND GLOUCESTER RAILWAY. —The
directors in a late report state, that the Gloucester Railway
wiil be opened to within eight miles of Birmingham on the
15th of September; but, in a subsequent speech, the chair-
man said they did not bind themselves to a particular day.
WEEKLY MORTALITY IN LONDON.—The table of morta-
lity for the metropolis, registered according to the late act of
parliament for the week ending August 15, gives a total of
deaths of 888, being 125 under the weekly average. The
distribution, according to the classification of diseases, gives
epidemic, endemic, and contagious, 185 ; of the brain, nerves,
and senses, 160 ; of the organs of respiration, 216; of the
heart and blood-vessels, 19 ; of the stomach, liver, and other
organs of digestion, 115 ; of the kidneys, &C., 4 ; diseases of
uncertain seat, 108; old age or natural decay, 46; by vio-
lence, privation, or intemperance, 29 ; cause not specified, 1;
of
ELECTRICR
the whole
TEL
numbte(r, 144 were 60 years old and upwards.
RAl'lE—This extraordinary machine is
now being worked on the Great Western Railroad, between
Drayton and Paddington ; and, though no distinct idea of
the apparatus can be imparted without plans and draughts
of the dial, pipes, rods, &c., of whichlt is composed, yet the
principle will excite unqualified admiration, when our readers
learn that intelligence is conveyed at the rate of 200,000 miles
per second, or 8,000 times quicker than light travels during
the same period, by means of electrical currents passing
through coils of copper wire, placed immediately behind some
fine magnetic needles, made to operate upon a circular series
of twenty letters, which indicate such terms, either separately
or collectively, as they have been arranged to represent. This
telegraph will act both day and night, in all states of the
weather, and with a rapidity so superior to the common pro-
cess, that one minute only is required for the communication
of thirty signals.

4. Fish is less nutritive, but less stimulant than the flesh
of animals, and on that account, if fresh, and not allowed to
have died a lingering death, is best adapted to weak and de-
licate habits. Turbot, cod, sole, whiting, haddock, and
flounder, are the most nutritive and the easiest of digestion ;
the salmon and the mackerel, the most indigestible. The
whiting and haddock best adapted for weak stomachs. The
flakeness of fish, and its opaque appearance, with a layer of
white curdy matter, resembling coagulated albumen, inter-
posed between its flakes, are md►cia, or indications of its
goodness.
5. Shell-fish are nutritive. Oysters should be eaten in a
raw state with a slight addition of vinegar and pepper as a
stimulant, and then they are balsamic food, if properly mas-
ticated before they are swallowed ; but when stewed they
are highly indigestible. Lobsters and crabs, as found in the
London market, are highly indigestible, as they are generally
underboiled, with a view to their better and longer keeping.
Muscles are of a vicid nature, and on that account often
seriously disorder the bowels ; but the danger does not lie,
as is erroneously supposed, in that dark spot, which by good
housewifes, is so carefully extracted, as the seat of poison ;
that dreaded spot being merely the heart, and perfectly
innoxious. It may not be unseasonable, also, to observe
here, that the injurious abets which sometimes attend the
eating of oysters, do not arise from the green colour which
they assume, but from their indigestibility (a quality arising
from their cold nature, and not being properly masticated) ;
for that colour is not occasioned, as is erroneously supposed,
by their having lain in coppery beds, but is produced by
placing them in situations where great deposits are made from
the sea, of the vegetable germs of the marine ,confervm and
fuci. .

6. Game and poultry of all kinds are wholesome, and their
flesh more digestible than that of animals ; but they contain
very little nutriment in proportion to their bulk. The lean
part of venison is the most digestible articl., of diet, a quality
which may also be predicated of the wild rabbit. The flesh
of the leveret, whe►► roasted, is nutritive, and easily digested ;
that of the tame rabbit and the fowl is of a similar quality.
7. Raw and boiled fresh eggs are salutary, nutritive, and
gently laxative ; but when boiled hard they are ind►gestible,
and produce costiveness.
'8
—The best corrector of animal food is stale bread ; It Is
of incalculable use in the process of digestion.
9—Of vegetables, the most nutritious is the potato ; when
but little bread is made use of, it should be used to modify
the effects of the consumption of animal food. All varieties
of the cabbage and spinach kind are wholesome and aperient;
as also young peas and scarlet beans. Carrots and radishes
are difficult of digestion. The parsnip and turnip are nutri-
tive and laxative. The onion, leek, horse radish, mustard and
cress, and water-cress, are nutritive and highly friendly to
digestion. .

10—Of fruits, the strawberry, rasberry, currant, and mul-
berry, are the most conducive to health ; a property which
may be predicated of all the small-seeded sorts of fruit. Next
to these, the peach apple, and pear are to be preferred, though
the last-mentioned is the most indigestible, on account of the
quantity of its woody fibre. Stone-fruits are liable to irritate
the intestines, especially if eaten in an unripe state. The
plum and cherry are of an indigestible nature. Grapes and
raisins are nourishing and wholesome. The orange is very
friendly to health. Figs are wholesome and laxative, both
crude and in a preserved state. Walnuts, when eaten fresh
and in moderation, are palatable and nutritious ' • but nuts.
filberts, and chesnuts, on account of their viscid and gluti-
nous quality, turning rancid and acrid on the stomach, and
thereby producing the most distressing heartburn and bowel
complaints, should be used cautiously, if not wholly abstained
from. When eaten, they should be accompanied with salt,
and chesnuts should be roasted,
11. Condiments and seasonings of all kinds (especially
salt), while used in moderation, assist by digestion, and cor-
rect many injurious and noxious properties 'of the food
ingested into the stomach ; they afford a stimulus to the
stomach, by exciting a more energetic performance of its
functions, and by exerting a corrective influence over the
various kinds of aliment during the process of digestion. To
the aged they are particularly friendly, as they stimulate the
whole of the alimentary canal. _ _

12. Though water is unquestionably the natural beverage
of man, and is the best solvent of food, never impairing or
destroying the sensibility of the palate as vinous and spiri.
tuous liquors do, yet the temperate use of good home-brewed
malt liquors, and sound unadulterated wines, is friendly to
health. Spirituous liquors, when taken on proper occa-
sions, in moderate quantities, and properly incorporated or
combined with water, strengthen the stomach and assist
digestion.