The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-09-07 00:00:00

Dame" is au amusing and extremely clever dramatic trifle

act well

,sa is discover

several of the situations would be very effect
. " The World of London " is continued

tive on the stage

The author of these articles is evidently a man of great ob-
servation, and, like Plato, " reasoneth well." There is
much truth as well as entertainment interspersed in this
series of articles. To a Londoner they are highly diverting.
The " Notice of the Royal Academy," although it comes
late, is not the less bien venu. The article on the " Spanish
Gipsies" gives us a good insight into their characters and
habits. " Nicholas Dunks, or Fried Mackerel for Dinner,"
is a well-told and droll story. " Biron and the Bastile " is

a detail of a circumstance which occurred in the reign of
Henry IV. of France. The number winds up with an able

article, entitled " Sir Robt. Peel's Position on next resuming
Power," evidently from the pen of one deeply versed in poli,
tics, and well accustomed to political wri

the following from " The World of London "

e quote

COMPETITION IN LONDON.—It is the prevalence of ti
competitive principle throughout all the shades of condition
observable here that gives this great population a vivacity o
action with which the slow-coach, jog-trot, do-very-well styl
of country towns contrasts to great disadvantage. Life i
twice as long in town as iu the country
to years, for years have nothing to do with life : in the quan-
tity of work we get through in the same given time, we make
life twice as long as our vegetative bfethren in the country.
For this we deserve no credit, and we take none : needs must

do not mean a

when the devil drives ! The' love of London is so intense,
and so universally planted in the minds of men, that no one,
tradesman or other, willingly relinquishes the metropolis for

the provinces; hence the struggle to keep possession of town
is desperate and incessant. The multitude of customers
afforded by London is the life of tradesmen. The best cus-
tomers are in London, because in London a portion of the
superfluous wealth, or saving of almost every man, is now, or
will be hereafter, spent. Your country gentleman will stint
his table, rack-rent his tenants, and starve his cat that he and
his family may sport a job-coach, and the share of an opera-
box, for three months during the London season. Your
spruce ensign hoards his paternal allowance, and lives on his
pay nine months in the year, to have a " spree, " as he calls
it, with some of his brother officers in London. Your banker's

clerk, who bolts with the money of his employers, hides him-
self in the wilderness of London, spending his ill-gotten
gains nearly as fast as he procures them. One way or another
the accumulated wealth of all lands over which the British
flag waves iu any authority finds its way into London, and is
there wholly or partially dissipated. Therefore, a shop for

. . . .
which a man will pay three or four hundred pounds a-year
rent would become a fortune but for the intensity of com-
petition. If customers are the life of tradesmen, tradesmen
are the life of customers 2 watrilincr nnnnrtnnitie, the ens-

tradesmen

takes advantage of the rivalry and necessities of the
The tradesmen in like manner; flourish upon
the ignorance or carelessness of the customer ' • every where
the principle between retailer and customer is, that of diamond
cut diamond. In this way, while tradesmen break and
customers are plundered, the prudent manager contrives to
supply himself with whatever he requires at a reasonable
rate. He adjusts the fluctuations of exchange, and the con-
sequence is, the success, of all business in London depends
upon the extent of your connexions ; for the profits allowed
you by competition with your rivals in the same line, as
profits, never can pay. The desperate rivalry of competition
takes every form of deception to put down rivals and estab-
lish supremacy : bankrupts able to pay forty shillihgs in the
pound, advertise their stock to be sold off at an immense sa-
crifice, which always implies ten per cent. above the ordinary
prices of the trade ; damaged goods, fresh from the hands
of the manufacturer, may be had for half—that is to say,
double the value; burnt out tradesmen, whose premises are
as good as new, offer you their articles, "removed for the
convenience of sale." You pass a shop, large bills in the
window announcing that the tradesman is " selling off;" you
think you will buy, and find, after you have bought, that you
are sold a bargain ; passing that way six months after, you
find your old friend still selling off as briskly as ever. If
you venture to inquire what is the reason he puts up a huin-
bugging placard of this sort, he will assure you, with great
coolness, that every shopkeeper in London is " selling off"
as fast as he can, and that he only imitates his neighbours!
Another xi ill announce, by staring bills a yard long, that
every thing in his shop may be had for half nothing, " this
shop closing on Saturday,' —a device that succeeds, perhaps,
in hooking a great many flats. If any remonstrate, seeing
these bills for a year or more, the clever tradesman will
reply with a grin, " that he believes most shops in London
close on a Saturday!" A third, after filling a well-dressed
window with high-priced articles, ticketed at low prices, in
a manner peculiar to these gentry, and which, when we come
to treat of London rogueries, we will take the trouble fully
to expose, will desire one of his porters or shopmen to fling
a stone through a pane of costly glass in the middle of his
window; a crowd is instantly attracted to view the smash ;
customers cannot help seeing the tickets, and, remarking
how cheap every thing is, rush in crowds into the shop to
lay out their money, and get cheated for their pains. Some
establishments break their own windows every Monday
morning, and have them glazed again every Saturday night,
and find it answer their purpose admirably. Manufactories
of new second-hand articles of fancy ware, furniture, and
the like, are established every where about town, and shops
opened for their sale, where the broker assures you, with
unusual veracity, that you will find every article he has to

dispose of "as good as new." Pawnbrokers' offices and
auction-rooms are chokefull of articles made expressly for
these places ; in short, there are twenty thousand laudable
inventions for the purpose of bringing to their senses those
myriads of shortsighted persons who, instead of dealing with
a respectable tradesman, pay double for every article they
require, under pretence of getting it a bargain. In one of
his invaluable maxims, Sir Morgan O'Doherty has declared
of books, that if you see a work frequently advertised, you
may suspect it as a bad one ; but if, in addition, you observe
a puff or laudatory paragraph, you may be sure of it.
Whenever, in like manner, you are invited to purchase arti-
cles for less than they can be made for, or paid for, you must
consider yourself in the light of a receiver of stolen goods, or
else the dupe of a knave, who professes to stand in a shop
selling you goods for less than he must pay for them, which

is absiiid

The Dublin University Magazine. Curry and Co., Dublin.
September's number opens with a paper entitled, " Drift-
ings and Dreamings in Foreign Lands," by H. Snogby,
Esq. Who Mr. Snogby may be it is not our business to en-

quire, but his dreamings are extremely amusing and his
driftings well worth gathering. " Winslows Anatomy of
Suicide," published last year by , in London, is
brought under review. Copious extracts are made from it,
tending to show the wickedness of suicide, proceeding as it
does from folly and want of courage to meet the ills or mis-
fortunes of life. " Savoren" is a metrical tale, translated
from the Rheinsagen, by Mr. Merrivale. " Sketches in
Erris and Tyrawly," by the author of Sketches in Ireland, is
next reviewed. The critic has highly and deservedly com-
mended this clever book, which will be the means, it is to be
hoped, of bringing an almost terra incognita portion of Ire-
land under the notice of the tourist. The niche in the
gallery of illustrious Irishmen is occupied by Sir Thomas
Molyneux. It is a most interesting memoir, and gives us a
good insight into the history of his times 1717. Sir Thomas
was Fellow of the Queen's and King's College of Physicians
in Ireland, Professor of Physic to the University of Dublin,
at that period, and State Physician and Physician General to
the Army. " September Flowers" contains some very
charming lyrics and poetical compositions by different hands.
" Letters from the Coast of Clare" next attract our attention.
Some most interesting particulars of the establishment of a
school at Kilkee are given, in which a Liverpool bookseller
receives honourable mention. These papers are extremely
amusing, and will bring Kilkee into note next summer. The
authoress's descriptions are vivid and well told. " The
Memoir of Dr. Barrett," late Senior Fellow of Trinity Col-
lege, Dublin, is very amusing. His portrait is capital. His
peculiarities are admirably hit off. We can well believe the
truth of them. The portion of Charles O'Malley contained
in this number we reviewed in our last.

Master Humphrey's Clock. No. 17. Burnaby Rudge
W. Webb, Liverpool.

This number is wholly occupied in detailing the riots which
took place consequent upon the conduct of Lord George
Gordon, and the part our friends Barnaby, Hugh, and Dennis
took in them. The attack upon the Maypole, as also-the
destruction of the Warren, are both forcibly told. Curiosity
is greatly excited by the closing peges. The woodcuts con-
tinue to be beautifully executed, and the story loses none of
its interest.

George Cruickshank's Omnibus. Webb, Liverpool

The young actress, Aradlle. Rachel, who is at present oc-
cupying the notice of the playgoing portion of the community,
is introduced to us in a memoir and portrait. " Frights No. 2"
is very well narrated. The strange cat, with the illustration,
is rich. " A Short Cruise at Margate" serves to introduce
to us an anecdote or two of Napoleon Buonaparte, with a
sketch of him, in, an out of a cocked hat. " Passionate
People" is a very good paper. The illustration of the man
who. when he got into a passion went and knocked at a door
till he cooled, is most laughable. " Our New Cooks

scribes the dilemmas of a family who were " rather particular'
in this description of the genus horno. "Frank Heartwell'
is pleasantly continued. The illustration is cleverly drawn

" Tea Table Talk" is a skit at those who pretend to know
much but know little. The cuts are capital. The Omnibus
Chat, touching the fashions, is a deservedly hard hit at the
ridiculously " long clothes" of the ladies. There are several
very amusing anecdotes interspersed through this portion of
the Bus. " Mrs. Toddle's Letter to the Proprietor," with
her portrait, is droll enough. The following extract is from

FRIGHTS.—'Tis midnight, and " the very houses seemasleep," outhouses and all. The " quiet family" has at-
tained its utmost pitch of quietness. All sleep soundly,
where no sound is heard. A breathless hush pervades the
domicile. On a sudden, there is a smart crash, a rattling
sound below. This sleeper starts up in bed, that darts
farther under the clothes. " What's that ?" is the inward
question of everybody. The- thought of thieves occurs to
each in turn: one is certain that the area-door has been
forced open, another is sure that the back-parlour sash has
been raised. They lie still, with panting hearts, and listen.
Again there is a noise. It is like creaking footsteps on the
stairs, or the opening of drawers ; then all is silent again,
and then the noise is renewed. At last, one little, quaking
miss ventures, half stifled, to whisper, " Sarah, are you
awake ?" and Sarah faintly answers, ' Yes, did you hear
that?" and both' bury themselves in the bed, and dare not
breathe. And then they hear a door open softly, and they
utter a low cry of terror; and then, in another minute, the
door of their own room opens, and, with a loud scream, they
start up—only to see their dear, good mamma, with a candle
in her hand ; but she is pale and frightened, and desires to
know if they had made the noise,—but they had not, only
they distinctly heard somebody getting in at the back door or
the parlour window. Then papa commands the whole assent-

bled family " not to be frightened'', and
—with cold—as he looks at his blunderbu

I to tt

%Ices dreadful!
and avows Ili

And then there is

garments tight to died'
eldest daughter hardly