The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-10-27 00:00:00

E POOR.—I cannot conclude this

dress without saying a few words, and they sha

very few, t

of the poor

II be hut

ion that roost important subject, the education

been ma

. .
the government of the country should undertake to pro-
vide for the secular education of the people, leaving their
religious instruction to the voluntary exertions of the
clergy and other ministers of religion, appears to demand
some expression of opinion on the part of those to whom.
the clergy will naturally look in such a matter for council.
if not for direction. I said in the chtirge which I deli-
vered in 1834, that religion ought to be made the ground-
work of all ethication, that its lessons should be inter-
woven with the whole tissue of instruction, and that its
principles should regulate the entire system of discipline
in our national schools ; and I added that the lessons of
religion could not be rendered less impressive or effectual
by being intersperced with teaching of a different kind.
I adhere to that opinion, and deprecate, as I have always
done, all attempts to divorce religious from secular in-
struction in the process of education ; a separation which
must of necessity be made, if the government of the
country were to take the education of the people into its
own hands, and to provide secular instruction for all,
leaving the rule of religious teaching not to 'the masters
or mistresses of schools, who must then, as a bounden

duty, manifest an absolute indifferentism, but to the
voluntdry exertions of the clergy and of the masters 01
different sects. How far those exertions might be de-
pended upon, and to what extent they might clash and
interfere with one another, and embitter sectarian feelings,
I will not stay to inquire ; but surely to forbid by law the
direct teaching of religion (to prevent the indirect is im-
possible), to proscribe the reading of the Bible as a sub-
ject of instruction, and the use rof prayer also by the
teachers of schools, would not only deprive religion and
knowledge of the support which they ought actually to
render each other, and habituate the learner to a notion
that religion has nothing to do with the ordinary occupa-
tions and pursuits of life ; but would unavoidably lead
to the training up of a race of school-teachers devoid of
all religious character ; for no truly religious teacher could
reconcile it to his conscience to be altogether silent on the
most important of all subjects, especially if he saw reason
for believing that the minister of religion, to whom that
department would be exclusively entrusted was either a
negligent or an incompetent instructor. We have only
to look to the present state of popular education in Ger-
many and France to be convinced of the truth of this
assertion.—Bishop of London's Charge.

SNOW-HARVESTING AT NAPLES

(From " MacFarlane's Popular Customs, Sports, and

Recollections of tAe South of Italy.)

To supply the city of Naples, one of the largest cities of
Europe, which has a population of 450,000 soulsall
snow consumers—a very extensive mountain-range is
put into requisition. From the Appenines, and from all
the nearer branches and ramifications of those moun-
tains, snow during the summer months is constantly be-
ing brought into the city by land and sea—always, how-
ever, by sea when practicable, as by that mode of con-
veyance it is kept cleaner, loses less by melting, and costs
less for carriage. Hundreds of men and boys are em.
ployed exclusively on this business. A mountain that
contributes very materially to the supply of the capital is
Monte Sant' Angelo, the loftiest point of the bold pro-
montory that separates the Bay of Naples from the Bay
of Salermo. This mountain, which towers majestically
behind the town and seaport of Castellamare, near the
end of the Neapolitan Bay, is only about twelve miles
from Naples itself. On account of the short distance,
and the advantage of an easy water carriage, the snow is
there harvested with great industry and care, and Monte
Sint' Angelo is well provided with caves and chasms as
we have described. Some of these contain singly an im-
mense heap of snow, but prodigious as the quantity may
be, it rapidly disappears before the labours of the work-
men, who, with iron-spiked poles and shovels, dig into it,

nrking in

salt mines. These labours, for a very obvious reason,
when, in the day time, Fahrenheit's thermometer otten
marks 90 degrees or 100 degrees in the sun, are nearly all
performed during the cool of the evening and at night.
Long strings of mules, each like a little caravan, ascend
the mountain to the snow cayse. There they are loaded
w.th the snow broken into large lumps, and secured from
the external atmosphere as well as may be, and then,
with all the speed that can be managed with heavy bur-
dens, and on steep, precipitous, and, in parts, very dan-
gerous roads, they descend by Quisisana to Castellamare
and the whurfs, where large roomy boats are in readiness
to receive their loads. As soon as the very perishable
cargo of one of these boats is completed and covered over
with straw, dry leaves, and tarpauling, it pushes off di-
rect for N pies. The time of their departure is from
twelve o'clorac at night to one or two in the morning.
They are alAreirnished with mast-and sails, which may be
useful on their return ; but as there is seldom a breath of
wind on a summer's night in this bay, they are of little
use in going to Naples, and the sailors are obliged to pull
the boats with oars and long sweeps. This labour, from
the clumsy, bad construction of the vessels, and the dead
weight thrown into them, is excessively severe, particu-
larly when they are delayed in starting, and threatened
with the heat of the rising sun before t ey can reach the
port of Naples. Fire ought to be brought to the aid of
snow. A small seam-boat might tow over a line of these
vessels without any uncertainty as to time. During the
summer nights, at the town of Castellamare, the tramp-
ling of the mules from the mountain, the cries and songs
of the muleteers, the putting off of the snow-boats, and
the shouts of the mariners, the roll of whose heavy oars is
heard far across the bay, are scarcely ever interrupted for
five minutes at a time. When the snow-boats artive in
the port of Naples they are quickly unloaded by a number
of facchini, or porters, regularly appointed to that ser-
vice. These fellows, who are very active and very strong,
though their principal food is bread, olives, garlic, and
other vegetables, with now and then a good dish of mac-
caroni, run with their loads of snow from the water side
to a large cool building erected on purpose to receive it.
This building, which is called '' La Dogana della Neve,"
or the Snow Custom House, is situated a little in the rear
of the port, at the distance of a few hundred yards from
the great Neapolitan Custom House. To this general de-
pot the retail dealers come to furnish themselves from all
parts of the vast town ; and there is scarcely a street in
Naples, however miserable and remote it may be, but has
its snow-shop. By an old law of the country, these shops
are never allowed to be shut up during the hot weather,
either by night or by day ; or, if the owner closes the

door or absents himself, he must leave some one in the
shop ready to serve, should snow be called for.

DR. TURNBULL'S TANNING.—The new method is to
prepare a mixture of sugar and water and sawdust—it
may be of any otber substance containing saccharine mat.
ter, such as beetroot, potatoes, turnips, honey, &c. The

action of the suze.r and proxalic, or woof. is so ra-
pid that the skins are rendered fit to receive and imbibe
the tannic acid immediately ; and thus the operation of
tanning is perfectly accomplished in a very short time.
The leather thus produced is heavier and of finer quality
than any leather produced by the present method of tan-
ning. This method of removing the lime is of vast im-
portance, as it not only improves the leather in weight,
and durability, but ensbles the tanner to produce a supe'
rior article in a much less space of time, anti at a much
less expense than heretofore. The advantages of the new
method appear to be, first, a great additional weight of
leather, especially in calf-skins ; second, leather of a much
better quality, soft, and not liable to crack or strain ;
third, a considerable diminution in the expense; and
fourth, the tanning is effected in one quarter of the time
consumed by the present mode of tanning.—Hall's Book
of the Feel.

AUSTRALIAN SERPENTS.-1 have met with several and
witnessed many wonderful and narrow escapes. A friend,
who bad been out shooting for some hours, coming home
tired, without thought or reflection, was on the point of
throwing himself on a stretcher to rest, when he was sud-
denly pulled back by a bystander, who had observed a tre-
mendous brown snake coiled up on the opossum cloak.
He was horrified but providentially saved. The snake of
course was soon dispatched. Another friend, on a cruise,
put his saddle down for a pillow at night, as usual, and on
lifting up the saddle flaps the next morning, he observed
a beastly deaf adder lying flat down. He soon dropped the
saddle, and killed the snake. While giving our horses
water one day, my cousin saw a black snake, half in and
half out of the water; he shot it and put it upon an ant
bill, to watch the ants at work. While so engaged, its

ate of-great
xcitement : it was also shot. On going over the Main
Range a deaf adder was observed creeping on a poor quail,

•er my instep

a . .
which crouched on the ground fascinated. We allowed
the poor bird to fall a victim, and then struck at the adder.
The blow did not take effect, and the reptile sprang three
feet at my friend, who escaped unhurt. The adder was
subsequently killed. Again, being one day encamped on
the Main Range, for the purpose of cutting bark with my
brother and friend, I had to go down to a little water-hole
to fill the quart pots for tea. While stooping down to my
task an enormous black snake slid down the bank, quack-
ing and hissing. Before I could recover from my fright
he had passed over my arm and up the opposite bank. I
was much too terrified to shoot at him, though I had my
gun at my side. Two more in-tances will suffice. A little
child, the daughter of a friend of mine, playing on the ve-
randah, was on the point of picking up what she thought
a varnished piece of wood—so flat and straight was it ex-
tended—when her father called her back. The snake (for
such the piece of wood turned out to be) basking in the
sun, proved to be a large diamond snake about nine feet
long. Again, I was sitting with my sister, after the
children were put to bed, and having heard that a snake
had been seen in the house during the day, we were fright •
ened. While engaged in conversation, we heard noises of
" Cab, cah, cah," issuing from the rafters and shingles ;
and, to our horror, beheld a nasty, yellow snake hanging
down over our heads, as if about to spring upon us. Up
we started ; a gun was brought to bear upon him, and he
fell down. I found two mice inside him, for which, no
doubt he had visited us.—Hodgson's Reminiscences of
Australia.

AN AGED PEASANT WOMAN.—Tbat old woman who
resides at the little cottage beside the pond in winter
gathers broken branches and decayed boughs in the woods
and lanes, and these she ties up in a brindle of nearly a
hundred weight, which she carries on her head to the
neighbouring market-town, a distance of nearly three
miles, and sells for fonrpence. Sometimes she makes
two journeys a day, and gets a lift on the road in any
waggon or cart that may chance to pass, for no one would
refuse so small a favour to an old woman. You may
meet her at the entrance of the wood on the bleakest day
in winter, when the ground is ancle-deep in snow, and no
footmark but her own has invaded that silent solitude ;
her heavy burden on the little roll which sits on the top
of t

aer close-fitting cap ; tier old-fashioned, faded, black,
gipsy bonnet hanging by the strings from her arm, while
her weather-stained red cloak adds to her picturesque ap-
pearance ; and, with a heavy, broken branch for a walk-
ing-staff, she trudges along through all weathers, nor does
she murmur at her hard lot. The ruddy tinge of health
is on her rough, hard cheeks, and her face is marked
with numbers of small wrinkles, invisible at a distance,
and, when seen close, looking like the fine network of
of lace. Steadily does she beet her burden, swinging her
body to and fro to keep it in even b 'lance ; for, when
once placed on the roll on her head, she has no need to
hold it with her hands. Habit has given her a safe -rao-
tion, and her resting-places are the tallest gate-posts
where she can Place the weighty billet and mount it again
on her head without the pain of stooping. It would re-
quire the arms of a strong man to lift that bundle of wood
from the ground, and place it on the round, stuffed roll,
that, like a coronet, sits on the summit of her old mob-
cap. Beautifully marked are some of the heavy branches
she brings home, covered with various coloured mosses
and lichens of every hue, from the frosty-looking white to
tha deep orange and richly-hued red, which clings to the
bark like icicles. Then the aroma she brings with lir r !
that smell of wood and bark, the genuine old forest per-
fume, retained even while the faggots are burning, and
throwing out that delicious fragrance which, on a cold
morning, comes so refreshing from the chimneys of a
clean, English village; for, next to a hay-field, is the-
healthy smell of a real forest wood-fin-. And oh! the
brown bread, baked upon the hearth by the red embers of
wood—sweetsst and purest of all home-made things—to
see the dead, white-looking ashes cleared from the round ,
tin or earthen vessel which covers the loaf; and to behold
the trip, timbered crust, and, above all,. to have a good
appetite and a basin of milk just warm from the cow, and
a " hunch
of that warm loaf, is a meal never to he for-
gotten. You feel as if you were devouring health at
every mouthful; as if you were swallowing the substance
from all sweet country smells and tastes—a mixture of
dews from every sweet wild-flower—perfumes from
neighbouring hay-fields—hawthorn tilm.soins gathered,
with ancoher flavour—creamkneaded, and baked—honey
before it had grown cold or thickened—and the smell of
the cows breath floating over all; And, when you have
breakfasted, you feel as if you should never again need a
doctor, not even if you lived to reach your hundredth
year. Happy is that old woman when, seated by her own
ht arth, she watches the blazes of the branches she has
gathered ; the red embers that fall below, the splutter end
crackle of the burning boughs, as the sap comes frothing
i
out ; the fire•seems to talk to her ; it burns not n silence
like coals ; it becomes a companion ; and the old woman
half fancies that the faggots are glad that they have made
her so warm and comfortable; they seem to expire cheer-
fully, as if they preferred such a glowing consumption to
lying cold, and frozen, and damp, and covered with
snow, and be left to rot in the cheerless, wintry woods.
For years has that old woman been a " Faggot Gathereg.'l,

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.