The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-05-29 00:00:00

POLITICAL CHARACTERS,

. (From the Oxford Herald,)
LORD LYNDHURST.
The name of Lord Lyndhurst is necessarily familiar to our
readers, for it is a name which is to be found, one way or
another, in every newspaper that is published. By giving, it,
then, an early place in the list of `• Political Characters,' we
feel assured we shall give gratification to the numerous ad-
mirers of that noble and learned lord.
Detraction, it is said, is a tax which eminence must pay to
insignificance; and the case of no one exemplifies the truth-
fulness of the adage more strikingly than the case of the
nobleman whose name appears at the head of this article.
With detraction he must be as well acquainted as with the
air he breathes. The Whig-Radical scribes have no more
agreeable occupation than that of slandering, and vilifying,
and endeavouring to blacken in every possible way the cha-
racter of Lord Lyndhurst. No man, it is true, in the
stormy arena of politics can expect to escape censure and
abuse : but the abuse with which the noble and learned lord
has been assailed has been of the foulest and vilest kind ; so
foul and so vile indeed has it been that it could with difficulty
be equalled, and could not possibly be exceeded, even it it
came from demons instead of men. Falsehoods the most
extravagant; lies the most monstrous, have been told respect-
ing him ; his sayings have been misrepresented, his motives
maligned, nay, so tar has the hostility towards him been car-
ried, that it has been solemnly asserted, as a gravely esta-
blished fact, that he is in league with the devil!. We assure
our readers that we are not stating what could not easily be
substantiated, for, ridiculous as the assertion must appear,
it has been made, more than twice or thrice, in the leading
Whig-Radical newspapers—newspapers written by men of
acknowledged talent, for readers claiming to be possessed of
some glimmering of intelligence and having received the rudi-
ments of education. Alas ! that party feeling should be car-
ried to such extreme lengths as it has been, and still is, with
respect to Lord Lyndhurst, If one-tenth part of what has
been written against him were true, he would deserve im-
peachment; if one five hundred-thousandth part of what the
wretch O'Connell has said about him were true, he ought
long ago to have died the death of an ignominious felon. If
it were true that his constant endeavour in parliament is
to commit as much mischief as possible, he ought to be ex-
cluded from the Senate ; if it were true that the delight of
his soul is to heap insult upon insult upon the Irish nation he
ought to be held up as a mark for public scorn and execration ;
if it be true, as the exemplary Lord Melbourne once insultingly
ramarked, " that God had given him splendid talents, but the
devil directed the application of them," he ought to be shunned
by all who have the good of their country at heart. But, un-
fortunately for the scribes in the pay of the whig-radical
clique in Downing-street, none of these " ifs" are as they
would have them. Lord Lyndhurst is a very different man
to what they represent, and to what they so constantly endea-
vour to make their readers believe. He is a man of brilliant
talent, which he devotes to the best and the holiest of pur-
poses. He is one of the most eloquent speakers of the day,
and his voice is never raised save in the cause of right and
justice, and the denunciation of evil and wrong doers. He is
the leader of the conservative party in the upper branch of
the legislature; hence it is that he is so obnoxious to the
snarling curs of the radical press ; " the very bead and front
of his offending bath this extent, no more." It is not too
much to say that he would not be the acknowledged head of
a party so virtuous, so great, so able, as the conservatives—a
party combining all the rank, the wealth, the intelligence, the
respectability of the land, but, happily, holding no communion
with the riffraff, the rag, tag, and the bobtail—it is not, we
say, too much to assert that Lord Lyndhurst would not be
one of the foremost men of such a party as this, if there were
the slightest foundation for the foul mass of venomous ca-
lumny with which he is so continually assailed. But perhaps
the hostility of the radicals to his lordship may be accounted
for when we call to mind the extreme mortification they must
feel on seeing an individual raising himself, by his command-
ing abilities, from a station comparatively obscure to a posi-
tion among the proudest to which a private citizen can attain,
and devoting those abilities to the best interests of, his coun-
try, instead of joining those men who are endeavouring by
all the means in their power to undermine and destroy the
time-honoured institutions which, under Divine Providence,
have raised their own, their native land, to the first place in
the scale of civilised nations.

Those of our readers who have had the good fortune to
hear Lord Lyndhurst speak in the House of Lords, have
experienced an intellectual treat, which they would, no doubt,
be glad to have repeated. Closeness of reasoning, felicity of
illustration, an impressive and graceful delivery, are the main
attributes of the noble and learned lord's oratory. There is
no claptrap, no mere rhetorical flourishes. no aiming after
effect, in the speeches of his lordship ; they are peculiarly
adapted to a highly intellectual audience ; there is a weight,
a solidity about them, far removed from the harangue of a
mob orator, on the one hand, or from the vain, frothy, flashy
declamations of a Marquis of Normanby, on the other. The
addresses of the noble and learned lord are invariably received
by the assembly to whom they are addressed in a manner
befitting at once their intrinsic worth and the eminence of
him by whom they are delivered.

Nothing can possibly be more pleasing than to see Lord
Lyndhurst fall foul of some unfortunate ministerial measure.
He commences his examination of it in a cool, calm, and
statesmanlike manner, and as he begins so he ends ; step by
step, clause by clause, he investigates the government
nostrum ; seizing intuitively upon its absurdities, he makes
them apparent to the view of all, seeing at a glance its de-
fects, he points them out, and suggests their appropriate re-
medies. If the ministerial project be one containing an in-
sidious attack on any of our venerable institutions, or aiming
a heavy blow and inflicting serious discouragement upon
Protestantism, (as most ministerial projects do), Lord
Lyndhurst will denounce it with the severity it demands,
and administer as stinging a rebuke to its authors as their
conduct deserves. But to see the noble and learned Lord in
all his glory, we should be present when he brings forward
his annual motion respecting the measures introduced and
abandoned by the government in the course of the session.
What pen can describe the agony of the occupants of the
ministerial bench as he details pleasure after measure,
scheme after scheme, bill after bill, which ministers have in-
troduced and abandoned ? Who can adequately paint the
misery of the Treasury men, when their promises at the com-
mencement of the session are contrasted with their actual
doings at the end of it? Who can describe the intense
torture which these poor devils endure when Lord Lynd-
hurst, at the close of his speech, exclaims, in a tone of the
most withering sarcasm, the most unbounded contempt—
" Such, my Lords, are the doings of her Majesty's ministers !
Able statesmen ! Vigorous rulers! Proper men to govern a
great kingdom 1" To describe all this as it ought to he de-
scribed is a task to which we feel incompetent, and we there-
fore leave it to the imagination of our readers.
Our space is now fully occupied, and we must conclude by
expressing our most earnest prayer that Lord Lyndhurst may
be spared to fill once again that station the duties of which
his talents enable him to discharge with so much advantage
to the country, and so much honour to himself.
__

A. T. T. Y.

THE OPERA DANSEUSE.

A SKETCH FROM NATURE.

Now gay and prosperous in the summer sun—smiling,
And now the victim of chill penury—weeping.—A NS ON.

Life is said to be made up of contrasts. Pleasure is sup-
posed to be enhanced by pain ; happiness by misery. Soli-
tude•derives its power of pleasing from the euloyment of too
much society ; and company is more ,enjoyed after the in-
dulgence of solitude. There are few minds which accomplish
that happy medium—that juste milieu,—that media tutissi-
mis ibis, which produces a regularity of happiness—a tran-
quil contentment—that kind of millenium of the mind, which
has been trumpeted up by philosophers as the acme of human
happiness. For our own part, we do not envy the possessors
of this, to us, negative kind of happiness ' • we would enjoy
excess of pleasure, even at the hazard of excess of pain—
would endure misery rather than forego exquisite happiness.
Violent contrasts may be sometimes painful, but they are
likewise pleasing ; and it has been our lot to witness many,
not only in our own experience, but in watching those of
others. We have seen those who had been indebted to us
for a shilling, in the days of early poverty, rise to wealth, and
look down upon us from their carriages in their prosperity.
And it has been our lot to throw half-a-crown into the brim-
less hat of a beggar, whom we have remembered the gay
master of splendid equipages, the head of a magnificent es-
tablishment, and our own successful competitor for the hand
of beauty ; we have sat at the hospitable board of a man sur-
rounded by his friends, and have envied his social position ;
and we have seen this envied man sacrifice his life to the
offended laws of his country ; and we have witnessed, often,
contrasts quite as painful as these. We remember a prince
of the blood living only in the smiles of a celebrated beauty,
basking in her charms, laying his whole power at her feet,
and piling oath on oath of his constancy and fidelity ; and we
have read of his meeting and passing her unnoticed, while
she was sunning herself upon crutches, with paralysed
limbs and faded beauty, on her premature journey to an early
grave. These are painful contrasts, but, alas, they are every
day ones.
Some years since, and very few, we recollect one opera
night, lounging behind the scenes, when a dancer of some
celebrity in her profession, but of far greater for the attrac-
tions of her beauty, was the fashion. Numbers of young
men of the first rank were crowding round the fair disciple
of Terpsichore. One was ambitious to hold her scarf, ano-
ther considered the care of her handkerchief a favour, every
one sought to obtain a word, a smile, a look. Wealth poured
out its stores to obtain her favours. Rank exhibited its at-
tractions to excite her vanity and engage her attention.
Exery sentence she uttered was construed into a " Mot,"
and every step she took displaying the graceful contour of
her limbs, elicited rapturous applause. Her neck, head, and
arms were encircled with diamonds. Her person redolent
with the sweetest perfumes, her eyes lighted up with blushes
of delight which shone even through her rouge, and her bland
and joyous smiles displayed the triumph she took in the ad-
miration she excited. The curtain rose, her admirers re-
tired to their boxes and their stalls, and silent admiration
was succeeded by tumultuous applause. Three or four men
of high rank and great means were the supposed envied pos-
sessors of this beauty—and each one of the four, from the
snug corner of his omnibus box, imagined himself the sole
favourite of the then " observed of all observers ;" for it is
the peculiar fact of a celebrated danseuse to persuade in secret
that each of her lovers is the only one whom she favours,
and that the adoration of the others is only for the talent that
gives her celebrity. The curtain fell—deafening shouts for
the artiste were heard from all quarters of the house. She
was led forward by the manager, and retired amidst the in-
cense of the adoration she had created. Now comes the
contrast! It was a few years after this—for the sake of
poor human nature . we are ashamed to say how few—
that, walking up one of the bye streets near Drury-
lane, we were surprised at the sudden start of a poorly-
clad female as she passed us. The start was so per-
ceptible that we turned round, and we found the person still
gazing at us with a look of recognition. Finding herself
observed, she advanced with a timid step ; she was not quite
in rags, but nearly so, yet everything about her was clean,
and arranged with a certain degree of taste. Her face was
pale, her features attenuated, and she held in her hand an
empty
tpa
bottle.re A slight suffusion seemed to give her features
a similarity to something that I had seen before ; but the re-
turning French
„inei an
neemssbl de
remember
vue,
et 1?1,e, m
sheag a
faintlyi n from ms
said
d , recollectionsn d
asserted . "You
in
'
you ho--
s
not wonder thatubludt
nIo
takmnogwrematel y. altered, an
(liffduo
.
sion that seemed to call all her features into life, recalled the
once celebrated danseuse to myc memory, and I recognised
the remains of that beauty which had
aonce been so admired.
her cheek sunken—her eye dim armsnd laquimidb,s
She was pale and thin.santdtehneuratveodi—ce
—" Ali," said she, " do not think it.— . gos, saw my
stinhougogihntgs
weak. My eye rested upon the bottle
to a dispensary for some medicine." And,
showed me the charitable letter which entitled her to proofth , ee
pri-
vilege of medicinal aid, for which she could not
pay.
was
shocked, and requested to know her residence—she was
ashamed to tell it—l gave her a few shillings, and NV,: parted.
/ musing on the contrast. . She—but I dare not venture to
guess her thoughts. A week or two elapsed, when I re-
ceived a note, simply saying, " I sin dying. The friend who
has never deserted me through all my trials, will be unable
to pay for my funeral. Will you see to this—promise me
that I shall not be indebted to charity—to the parish for a
pauper funeral."
I sought her out, and found her in the upper story of one
of those blind alleys with which the neighbourhood of some
of the London markets abound. An old apron was slung
upon a rope over the door, to prevent the rush of wind from
into the broken panes of glass to keep out the chill air, which
a public staircase; other rags and pieces of paper were thrust
a miserable fire, struggling into ignition, was unable to warm.
A miserable truck bedstead supported the frame of thedpoor
girl—the apology for a pillow raised by rags supporte her
the bed and a rug with the renlains of a cloak that had
head. A mere tick laid over the sacking was the apology for

once been splendid, was her only covering—a rush bottom
chair with no.back was my seat at her bedside—a rickety
table, upon which stood bottles of medicine, a cup of cold
tea, a stale orange, and a few fresh flowers in a broken jug,
containing, in short, all her remedies, necessaries, and hum-
ries, was within her reach. Her humble friend was on her
knees, blowing the fire with her mouth.
What a contrast ! Where was the eider-down couch—the
luxurious sofa, with pillows swelling into rotundity as you
left them—the rare exotics—that once adorned her boidoir ?
And where was she who once was their possessor? Upon
this truckle bed, in the last stage of a rapid consumption—
with nothing of her former beauty but that delicacy of ex-
pression which added to the melancholy picture—she was dy-
ing, and she knew it ; yet, in her extremity, an air of mor-
tification passed over her features as she recognised me, and
attempted to return the pressure of my hand. I bowed down
my face to the flowers to hide any expression that might
have told her how I felt the change. W hat a contrast !—the
sweet, fresh flowers, and the dying woman !—" Before those
flowers are faded," said she, " I shall be dead."—She spoke
the truth.—Pa. •

NEW ENGINE AND PROPELLERS FOR CANAL
NAVIGATION.

Mr. Peter Taylor, of Hollinwood, has recently taken out
patents for two inventions—one for a rotatory high-pressure
marine steam engine on a new principle ; and the other, that
which chiefly calls for notice, for paddles or propellers, also
of an entirely new construction. His principal object was to
attain that desideratum in steam navigation on canals, suffi-
cient motive power for considerable speed, without injury to
the canal banks, caused by the action of the ordinary paddles.
The apparatus consists of a series of vanes or curved blades,
placed obliquely, like the sails of a windmill, or like portions
of a continuous screw. The apparatus is placed at the stern
of the vessel in a small enclosure of water, the sides of the
boat being continued beyond the stern, and the rudder being
fixed beyond the propellers. They occupy a space of about a
yard and a half in length, and, in the instance under notice,
seven feet in breadth. There are two parallel axes or shafts,
which project from the stern, each shaft having four pairs of
vanes or blades, at short distances, and so placed as to strike
the water in quick succession, and obliquely like the scull of
a boat. The oars or blades on one shaft have an action like
that of a right-hand screw, and those of the other like that
of a left-hand one; and the vanes of each shaft work nearly
up to the other shaft, and thus their joint action has the ef-
fect of propelling the boat forward, or when reversed by
altering the motion of the driving-wheel in a direction. stern
first. They are said to differ (amongst other respects) from
all propellers previously invented, both in their screw-like
action, and in the axle being wholly under water. By way of
trying experiments with these propellers Mr. Taylor has had
a set of them fitted to an old iron boat, about 52 feet in
length and seven feet in width, formerly worked on the canals
•by Messrs. Buckley, Kerihaw, and Co. One of Mr. Tay-
lor's new rotatory engines of only five horses' power has
been fitted into the boat, which has been named " The Ex-
periment, of Hollinwood." After several private trials,
this boat made its first experimental trip on the river Irwell,
yesterday week. Mr. Taylor and a few friends proceeded
from the Old Quay, Manchester, as far as Barton-on-Irwell,
and on the whole they state that te action of itth engine and
propellers was satisfactory; though in returning there was a
deficiency of steam, from the filling up of the fire-tubes with
coke; a casualty which was remedied as soon as discovered.
The speed was regarded as in a high degree satisfactory ;
being, it is stated, generally at the rate of six, and occasion-
ally seven, miles an hour. The motive power was deemed
inadequate to accomplish all that the inventor had a right to
anticipate ; but it is mentioned as one proof of the superiority
of his inventions, that the Jack Sharp, a passage-boat be-
longing to the Old Quay Company (whose first trip, after
being fitted with engine and stern-paddles, we noticed some
time ago), was not at all able to. keep up with the Experi-
ment, though the engine of the former is twelve horses', and
that of the latter only five horses' power.
On Wednesday the Experiment steamed down to Runcorn,
by river and canal, and the whole distance was accomplished
in about five hours' working ; including the delays and stop-
pages at the locks, and those caused by the parties on the
boat having themselves to open the bridges, on the
Runcorn Canal. The boat stopped a short time at
Barton, and also several hours at Warrington, which
place it did not leave till dark, and performed the distance
between Warrington and Runcorn (which, it is said, is about
seven miles and three quarters) in about an hour, including
delays from the cause just noticed. This increased rate was
attributed to having obtained a better description of coke at
Warrington.
The boat remained at Runcorn for some hours, and, hav-
ing so far performed her work to the satisfaction of the
voyagers, they determined to proceed in her to Liverpool.
They started from Runcorn at half-past three o'clock on
Thursday morning, with the tide, and reached the Rock
Ferry, opposite Liverpool, by five o'clock, performing the
distance in about an hour and a half. The Experiment is
considered to be by no means well adapted for the purposes
of canal steam navigation. • She is described as in form
more-like a box than a boat, and as drawing two feet nine
inches water; a manifest disadvantage with so small an en-
gine. We are informed, that all who have seen the boat's
performance, including several engineers who took a trip in
her, have expressed themselves much pleased with her speed
and general action. We understand therels some probabi-
lity of the Old Quay Company making a trial of the pro-
pellers and engine in one of their twin quick passage boats
on the Runcorn Canal. The Experiment, in these trips, was
placed under the care of Isaac Taylor, an experienced captain
in the Old Quay CoMpany's employ, the aid of whose ser-
vices, as pilot and steersman, was afforded for the occasion
by Mr. T. 0. Lingard. Taylor says that the boat answers
her helm readily, turns well, and is very manageable. When
at her greatest speed, it was found that the agitation and
swell caused by her pas Sing through the water, and by the
propellers, had very little effect on the canal boats, the stream
from the propellers being thrown off in the centre of the
canal, leaving a considerable wake there.
There will probably be some further experiments tried
before long ; and we may have an opportunity of noticing
their results, from personal observation.—Manchester Guar-
dian.

Obipping Intellignitt.

TUESDAY, MAY 2G.—Wind S.E,

ARRIVED—JuIia, Rae, from Mobile—Friends, Maclean, from Vir-
ginia—Isis, Maas, from Wismar—Elizabeth, Pybus, from Rotterdam
SAlLED—Patriot Queen, Hoodless, for Calcutta—Falcon, Turner,
for Africa—Coroman do, Pierce, for Charleston—Cecilia, Anderson,
for Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, and Sydney—Helen, Kuner,
for Riga.—Asia, Hannah, from Savannah..—European, M`Lean.—
Mogul, Gallagher from Apalachicola

Capricorn, and Governor, James, hence at Jamaica
Renown, from the Clyde at ditto
Sultana, hence at Trinidad
steamer, with the mails for the Hope Packet, was to leav e Jamaica
for Cape Hayti, 21st ult
Jersey Lass, and Mersey, hence at Vera Cruz
Opossum Packet, from Falmouth at ditto
David Banks, Jolly, hence and Leghorn, at Malaga
Redbreast, Bence, hence at Malaga, and sailed 6th instant, on
her return
Micailitz, Smith, hence at Malaga
Pioneer, Cook, sailed from Malaga on the 6th May for this port
Nais, Easter, hence at Cadiz
Maria Ann, Hagedon, hence at Riga
Marion, Martin, sailed from Cadiz for Tampico on the 10th May,
and Hebe, Thompson, for this port 12th May
Tjakkien, Driennes ; Margareitha, Scholtens, and Gezina, De
Boer, hence at Zwolle
Trinidad Packet, -, hence to Carthagena, was spoken Bth
instant, in lat. 44, long. 16

Susquehanna, -, hence to Philadelphia, was spoken 26th
ult. in lat. 41, long. 58

Elizabeth, - , from St. Joseph's to this port, was spoken 2nd
instant, in lat. 35, long. 71

The Unicorn, (steamer,) hence to Halifax, was spoken 20th inst,
at 10 a.m. in lat 4g 20, long. 18

Two Sostre, Spiens, hence for Swenborg off Deal, on the 24th
instant

Dorothea, De Boer, hence for Zwolle off Deal, on the 24th install

YARMOUTH, 24th May.—The Henry and Eli;.abeth, Mann, from
Liverpool to Newcastle, has put into this harbour leaky, and must
discharge
TRIESTN, 14th May.—A British barque from this port in ballast
is reported to be on shore on the rocks off Grosse Islands