The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-06-06 00:00:00

COUNTY COURT-YESTERDAY.

[BEFORE JOSEPH POLLOCK, ESQ., JUDGE.]
THE court sat at ten o'clock. One hnudred cases were
disposed of, but few of them possessed mach public
interest.

ACTION AGAINST POLICE-OFFIQSRS.
Dr-Nee v. Duo Gale AND SCAIFE.—In this case the
plaintiff, Michael Dunne, of Sprainger:street, described as
a cotton seller, sought to recover Xis from the defendants,
two detective officers, for damage caused by breaking into
his premises, forcing open a chest containing some china,
I and taking away some pawn tickets, an invoice, and two
sheets of brown paper.—Mr. Grocott, solicitor, appeared
for the plaintiff; and Mr. &Gowan, the law-clerk of the
Health Committee, appeared on behalf of the defendants.
The plaintiff deposed that, in April last, the defendants
came to him and charged him with having stolen cotton
in his house. They took him before the magistrates, by
whom he was discharged. After his return he received
from the defendants two pawn tickets, which he was in-
formed had been taken from his house.—On cross-exami-
nation, the plaintiff admitted that he had been in some
difficulty previously in regard to some cotton. He had
kept a marine store, but his license was not renewed. A.
fine of £lO had been imposed upon him for trading with-
out license, but the fine was remitted, because his license
was in the Town-hall to be renewed, and the money for
the renewal was paid in.—His Honour Were you ever in
custody before in Liverpool ?—Yes, sir, for being under
the influence of liquor.—His Honour : I don't mean
that ; I mean for any charge against your honesty ?
Plaintiff: No, sir.—A female servant of the plaintiff de-
posed that, on the day in queei ion, she saw an old man
run past the door and dr,e, 'hing there. Her master
was standing at the de ime, smoking his pipe,
and looking at a wed,' wing down the street.
She saw the dKenda ,ack immediately after
with the old man 'he parcel. Duggan
seid, " Well done n something of this,
• and you must (y)m, :e said he never saw
anything of the 1,2:: c. go. After Dunne
' WAS taken away, Dugp,u. ..e came and searched
r the house. They turned up ,ed and baskets, opened
a box containing china, and touk away the pawntickets,
the invoices, and two pieces of brown paper, in which they
wrapped something up. Witness asked Scaile what he
wanted, when he said, " I don't want to take anything."
She said, " I'll take good care you don't, for I'll watch you
well." (A laugh.)—This evidence was confirmed by the
wife of the plaintiff, who said that the sheets of brown
paper had been used before, but would have done again as
samples. Another servant was called, and Mr. M`Gowan
was proceeding with the examination of the witness, when
His Honour asked of what use it was to prolong the
inquiry.-The case for the plaintiff being then closed, his
Honour said:—The facts'of the case seem to be that this
ex-marine-store dealer was standing at his door, smoking
at a pipe, and looking at a wedding in the street, when an
unknown person dropped some stolen property into his
house as he passed ; and when a policeman, who came up,
said, " Dunne, you must know something of this." The
ex-marine-store dealer, who was standing close by the
parcel, said he did not know anything about it, as he was
looking down the street at the time. The police wrapped
up two sheets of brown paper, which were afterwards re-
turned to the owner, and an invoice which did not seem to
have'occasioned any loss. This was all the offence that
the men had committed. They had no business to take
away the two sheets of brown paper; they should have
taken some of their own, or should have asked Mrs. Dunne
for it. That was all the wrong they had done, conse-
quently he should give a verdict for the damage that they
had inflicted, which was a farthing damages and no costs.
LEAVING PICTURES AT HOUSES.—Frederick Carl, an
Italian artist, resident in Hunter-street, sued Mr. Edward
Chaloner for £1 ls. for three small pictures supplied,
painted upon ivory. One was a view of Birkenhead (the
only feature in it being a wooden shed); another cottage
with water about it was marked " Blackburn ;" and the
third was a likeness of Cardinal Wiseman. It appeared
that the pictures had never been ordered, but that the
plaintiff had left them at Mr. Chaloner's office, and in two
days afterwards sent in his bill. His Honour explained
to the plaintiff that that was a mode of business which
could not be sanctioned in this country,—a statement
which the plaintiff appeared quite puzzled to comprehend.
Mr. Grocott said that the pictures had been offered to him
in return, and ls. 10d. which he had paid for a summons,
but he claimed compensation for two or three months' loss
of time. Verdict for the defendant.

HEarrn or Tns Tows.—The medical officer reports
that, with the exception of measles, which continues more
than usually prevalent, the town remains free from
epidemic disease. The deaths registered fell from 260 in
the previous week to 230 in the week ending last Saturday,
the average mortality of the same week of the preceding
six years being 215. The number of deaths from diseases
of the zymotic class was 75, of which 26 (more than one-
third) were from measles, 14 from typhus, 4 from scarla-
tina, 5 from. diarrhrea, 2 from cholera, 2 from syphilis.
Small-pox was fatal in a greater number of cases than in
any week since September, 1851; of children who have
died from this disease there is stated to hare been one vac-
cinated unsuccessfully. Bowel complaints are not more
than usually prevalent. The deaths from consumption
were So, and from other diseases of the lungs 35. A
brewer's labourer died of delirium tremens, and two females
under 30 years of age, from excessive drinking.
PEW-RENT.—WEST DERBY CHURCH.—On Wednesday
last, Mrs. Sarah Twentyman sued Mr. Thomas Fletcher,
wheelwright, Tue-brook, in the County Court, for the
sum of £l3 lbs., being the amount of two-and-a-half
years rent of a pew in West Derby Church, at £6 lea.—
per annum. From the evidence given by the son of the
plaintiff, it appeared that the pew had been in possession
of the plaintiff's family, it having been bequeathed by
Mr. Humphrey llohne, to his nephew, the husband of
the plaintiff, as an appurtenance to a certain dwelling-
house, 'situate in the parish of West Derby ; and that
ten or twelve years ago the defendant took the pew at the
rental of 25 10s. per year, which he paid up to midsum-
mer, 1861, which was subsequent to the decease of
the plaintiff's husband. On being applied to for the usual
rent after the date named, the defendant refused to Pan
alleging that Mr. Haywood claimed the pew as his In*°-
ipt!ry%tasy,
coanndtehnednedce
ththaet
tphree
csehnutrchactaitonw.
West
Ft oprertbh)e. defence
a chapel of ease, but a parochial church, and thatweoaj
quently, by the old ecelesiasties.l For, no individual could
claim a right to the pew save the rector. This fosteslaiol.
down in Burns, vol. i, p. 358. Formerlythe
:
West Derby and Walton, were
united; but
the Rev. Mr
were divided into instinct Par conse-
quently',
Stewart was now the rectoani
supposing that the pew
"*S-hari been sold, in December,
dwel-
ling-house estate, the proPe-Y
Pemberton, and of course the pew
°A ofi spitTriefn:ramn:er.to 3t
'hoer co verlBl3, to Mr. John
a the defendant had paid rent for the
along with it ; and
period to the plaintiff, he had done so
said pew since that
law,
and was not, therefore, legally
in ignorance of the
churchwardens of St. Michael's Church, in
liable.personal right to pews. The
parishioner of West Derby,
ed to London in 1860.—His Honour said
having rein°v • , t distinctly stated that, originally,
of West Derby was a chapel of ease, whatever
the church
t act may have rendered it ; and he was of
of the plaintiff, by defendant
t prima facie, a title had been established
ptillaiisottilfw' iTli'as:ehia:Oitedveentrnoyoedw al
to:fp)
slialitltbs,lioteilegilep;ewnat o,ofnpa.trhheampianit
having, during a period of ten or twelve years, paid rent
for it ; nevertheless, that fact did not legally establish a
title. But he did not think that the defendant could
refuse to pay simply because Haywood had set up a claim.
If, however, the question of title was to be tried, he
clearly hail no jurisdiction. If he decided,the'i;inetifiCal •
e illemmount at 'ism
dispute, waiving the subject of rig
was too small for the case to *yawed to the co %t
above. After a good deal of legallrgunl fnt, Lie HO
said that he would take time to co4sultea horitierilfi At
question, and announce his decision* ' ',•-tr' .!A
g ~.„, •-, *4114_ ~,,r
~... ..: 4
,- '1- 4
, fjt .r",,,1k,' ;40
lie
: ``,,,.:5 , •40
'-.:7" t wo

THE MAIDEN'S SONG.

I LOVE ! and Love hath given me
Sweet thoughts to God akin :
And oped a living Paradise
My heart of hearts within :
O from this Eden of my life
God keep the Serpent Sin !

I love l and into angel-land
With starry glimpses peer I
I drink in beauty like heaven-wine,
When One is smiling near
And there's a rainbow round my soul
For every falling tear.

Dear God in heaven t keep without stain
My bosom's brooding Dove :
0 clothe it meet for angel-arms,
And give it place above !
For there is nothing from the world
I yearn to take, but Love.

GERALD MASSEY.

REVIEWS OF BOOKS.

Poems by Melanter. London : Saunders and
Otley.
The principal poem of those published by the
gifted author who gives his effusions to the world
under the nom de plume of Melanter, is a drama
of Swedish history named " Eric and Karine ;"
besides which the volume contains also a collection
of miscellaneous poems, and several admirably
rendered translations. In all of them the author
displays no small amount of poetic fancy, wedded
to a delicate and well-cultured dear ; while in not a
few the afflatus is of true inspiration. Among the
poems which, from the place he assigns them. in the
volume, he seems to consider secondary, several are
meritorious in a high degree, conspicuous among
which is " St. Paul at Athens." In this poem,
which is pervaded by a true devotional feeling,
there are numerous passages of great beauty com-
bined with great subtlety of thought. The follow-
ing contains a fair exposition of his style, and will
be readily admitted as imbued with the true spirit
of poetry :
Behold yon sister bill ! the virgin-fane
Hath fenced the void from half her chaste domain,
While on each side, the pillar'd vista through,
Gleams in a marble verge aerial blue;
In front majestic semblance breathes on high,
The rival Godheads leaning from the sky ;
Neighs the wild steed the mean award to brave,
And monarchs shrink bef .re their destined slave.
What can there be ambition in a god,
And all it craves, to name a salient clod?
Not long, I trow, shall superstitions awe
From yonder pile the quailing Vance withdraw,
For Paul bath marked the glorious disgrace,
And all the kindling soul illumes his face;
He lifts the arm by heavenly aid bested,
And wakes the voice that shall reclaim the dead.
Ye men of Athens, armed to light the air.
To trust the dark, and doubt where all is clear;
Whose haughty reach bath quenched perception's ray,
The spark of nature on your twilight way,
Blind leaders of the blind, in vague default,
Ye grope the maze of Superstition's vault ;
For you the earth, the air, the waves, are fraught
With powers that menace all and promise naught.
Of late I passed where crowding votaries trod,
And to, an altar "To the Unknown God!"
Whom then ye worship nameless, and unproved,
His gifts unthanked, his excellence unloved.
Him will I manifest, Supreme, Alone,
The Almighty Father, the Eternal One,
Realmed inaccessible, but ever nigh,
The present God, the Dayspring from on high.
Hcjiied while yet there was no life but His,
Helnade of nothing everything that is,
The swift light flashing throngh the dazzled void,
The earth unzoned, unbalanced, and unbuoyed ;
Her yearly voyage He shaped, and o'er her bent
The unechoing arch, the crystal firmament,
And shut the seas their warder capes between,
And garbed the purple hills and valleys green ;
Then lifted the creating arm on high,
And scattered worlds like dust upon the sky,
Empowered the sun, and graced the moon with light,
And stars that watch the slumbering fold of night :
No trident swung, nor cleft the several birth,
But snake the word, and quickened the young earth,
Each life astir with instinct of its kind,
Unvexed by thought, yet compensate of mind.
Then last, and paramount of the wondrous plan,
He made of dust, in God's own image, man,
At first a friend, in bliss and glory placed,
Ere long a rebel, anguished and abased,
From heavenly commune sunk to earthly scope,
And driven beyond the verge of all but hope.
This poem abounds in rich imagery, and its
pictures are rendered in sonorous verse.
Of his chief poem, the drama of " Eric and
Karine," it is necessary to speak in more measured
terms. As a poem in the dramatic form it is excellent;
as a drama, intended for theatrical representation,
it is scarcely so successful. Its story is that of an
impulsive and impassioned North King, devotedly
attached to his queen Karine, who, in return, loves
him with an affection as high and holy as it is
intense and pure. Her influence over her warm-
hearted but somewhat blunt and barbarous hus-
band renders her obnoxious to the hatred of
Peterson, an astrologer, who, aiming at dominion
through the power he exercises over the supersti-
tious and credulous mind of Eric, finds himself
opposed, and in some degree thwarted, by the
gentle and innocent persuasions and generous feel-
ings of Karine, who, ever eloquent in favour of
virtue and suffering., pleads, in many instances
successfully, in opposition to the astrologer's
designs. This wily and malignant old man, to rid
himself of her authority, determines on her ruin ;
and for this purpose poisons the ear of Eric with
tales and foul suggestions, that Nils Sture, a young
noble, is the object of her guilty love. To aid in
this nefarious device he has recourse to all the
machinations of his art, aided by the more dan-
gerous promptings of his own fiendishly fertile
disposition, and succeeds in corrupting the ear of
the king. The workings of Peterson's devilish
devices are well put forward in the second scene of
the second act. It is as follows :

PETERSON. Ay, yell away, good burghers I—honest fools !
Too fat to scowl, but powerful to look blank;—
Bacon unstreaked —broad beans without the eyes !
And ye, proud shop-dames, in silk kirtles puffed,
And satin gorgets, rumpling back from me,
As I were what ye call " vulgarity,"—
I'll raise the Nice of widows' hoods ere long!
Well, I bad rather to be knave than fool;
Though knave, set in comparison with me,
Is an ant-lion to the desert's lord;
Me who have met, and crushed the horns of fear
But fool's a sop, whereon to wean the wise,
Born to fill gaps, and christened to supply
An alias for scorn. [enter ERIC.
ERIC. And what is madman?
PETERSON. Nor birth, nor baptism ; but of death is he—
The death, and oft the suicide of the mind ;
Which being buried, the soul, its widow, can scarce
Live, or have feeling of her friends, or turn
From foes; nor bath intelligence to man
The ear's gate, or the embrasures of the sight.
Only the body with a monster's strength,
And eyes that are the hoods of fury's crest,
Hugs the dull cunning of a double self,
Or dungeoned, gnaws its flesh and pets its shackles.
ERIC. How is my star, thou Goran Peterson,
How is she, since I mortared up her foes ?
PETERSON. Her foes ! What, all her foes ? Oh, rare
equation,
Three crowns, three enemies !
ERIC. Now, Peterson,
What man hath patience ? Rude be as thou wilt,
'Twill save much toil : but be not roundabout.
PETERSON (aside). Now, now is the time for it ; or ere
she come
To urge her prayer, and while he bath no arms.
riffotid) One there bath been, whom scarcely tit to pass
'Mong falling stars (the evedrops of the sky),
Thy royal planet took, and set in state,
To shine beside her, and to light the world.
ERIc. Thy tale—what is it ?
PETERSON.
Would push thee thence.
ERIC. Karine I my Own Karine I
PETERSON. She is in foul conspiracy with the Stares,
To set Nils Sture, her lover, in thy place.
ERIC. A sword ! a spear ! By hell robbed of my arms
Come here, good fellow. Oh, I will not hurt thee.
PETERSON. The king shall weep (if throne he bath or eyes),
So soon as e'er he ceases to he mad. [Going.
ERIC. Mad ! no, come back, come back I Now look at me.
Stand closer, closer 1 Wedge thy keen glance now
Deep into mine, as blade.crassed duellists
Plumb for the impulse in each other's eyes.
Well I Am I mad ? Is there a wildness here?
A stealth of something conscious, or a lack
of reason's crystal, in the glass of thought?
What lam clear ; I tell thee lam clear :
What inean'st thou, glaring thus into mine eyes,
As murderers, o'er the pool, after the plash"
stand back. It is a lie, to say my thoughts
Are whirled and wandering. I will think straight.
Thou art come on purpose with some tale, to try
If aught could madden me : thou bast tried well.
PETERSON (aside). Who tempts him further, is more mad
than he. [Exit.
ERIC. Now let me try if I can think ; if still
Within this dark and unsurveyed fiord,
Where, to the ebb and flow of sense and sleep,
Trim reason, and o'er canvassed fancy ride,
If still I have—of that I cannot think ;
It is not fair to teat my brain with that;
Intrigues and tricks, and things that have more sides
Than nature's front and back ! But nature's self—
The hillside morning, and the sunset brake,
The lowing cattle, and the bush of leaves,
of these, at least, I may think, and Karine.
Karine I I clutch the implements of thought,
As watchmen grasp their spears to keep awake.
Bberie baan fungus,h atropa, or hemp. edrenched me with some cursed drug,
Si
Or blood bath fouled that pearly camera
Which shapes. and renders to the seatedwill,
The pictured flow and landscape of the mind.
Whate'er I love, whate'er I own, or am,
Even those elements, wbdicahreet,earnnd waste,
eternity.
Shall not impair,. dejecte
Like deathbed view of gaosodmruecsohlmveysonwndno.ne,
Or like my funeral, and .
Oh sight most strange, sic.ke_nitng agnd h
mmaaddliening
I see my mind—a solid mind hou
What art thou, cloudy and unshapen thing,
No more substantial than the wings
dotim. sleep,
Or nightfall, or the flake in eyeballs
Yet owing duty to the sense of sight, _
In some half measure, as a vision doth.
Thou spawn of immortalityci oh cease,
Thus horribly to curdle an to melt,
Now liquid, like the juggler's pbial'd blood,
Now pulpy, like a woman nine days drowned
Writhe on, thou dead alive worm in my skull.
Oh God, great God! if for my youthful sins,
By me forgotten, but in force with thee,
Cast forth I am from all self-consciousness,
(Save reasonable horror of myself)
Grant, in thy mercy, that she know it not,
And ttiat I may not lie at play with death.
[Eater KARINE.
KA RINE.. My lord, I have a favour. What, my Eric,
My husband, why look you at your Karine,
As if shemighibe any one to you ?
Speak t 6 me Eric. Oh, what shall Ido ?
His head is burning, and his poor hands clenched,—
*) COW) Oh I could break my court-spoiled fingers,

She, who shares thy throne

Too weak to open them ! A pillow, quick,
A pillow for his head ! There, look not so, -
• Not at the door so wildly.
ERIC. Where is Karine ?
KARINE. Here, my own dearest, to thy side as close,
As even she could ever long to be.
But art thou better ?
1 ERIC I have been asleep.
i What was it that I dreamt of thee, Karine ?
Art thou in trouble, that thine eyelids thus
Are moist, and glistening, and thy cheeks so pale 7
KARMIC. No, lam happy, very happy now.
Thou boldest all the compass of my soul :
I No sorrow yet bath learned the road thereto,
Nor shall, except through thee.
C.
How strange it is !
I feel thy gentle voice repose on me,
Like sunset on a shattered pine. or as
A hermit's shadow on a troubled brook.
Now, at thy smile, the snowdrift of my heart
Melts to a flood of h ppiness, too calm,
iToo deep, and still, to murmur into words :
And it bath drowned the snake, the hissing snake !
KARINE. Ah, could I only keep thee ever thus ;
I And little Gustave, so like thee in all,
I His quick eyes kindling, when the maids in play
Make mouths at him, or feign to threaten me :
And then the laugh, which from his jutting lip,
Breaks, like the ripple from a coral marge,
Soon as his infant dignity is soothed.
ERIC. Poor little man ! I trust he may not show
A darker likeness to his father's moods.
KARINE. Now promise this, this little thing to me:
When, et a quick affront, or hasty word,
Thou art aglow to forge the sentence-brand,
Remember, he. whom thou wouldst hurt, may have
His own poor Gustave, and his own Karine.
ERIC. When lam chafed, my memory is short.
KARINE. And shorter afterwards : men call thee harsh,
"The King is quick of mood and terrible,*"
But thy wife better knows her lord. And now
I will entreat thee for a little proof,
That s .e hath not mistaken thee.
ERIC. What is it?
Long must thou search ere thou couldat find a thing,
I would deny thee.
KARINE. 'Tis only this : •
Release, and take again into thy grace,
noble The Stures.
ERIC. Woman, say that again !
If this be true, I have been always mad.
KARINE. My lord, have I said harm? I only meant
Swante Sture, and his noble son.
His noble son !
'Pis in the stars ! Thou loveet him—thou dost !
'Thou wouldst kill me, to set him in my throne.
Not in my brain the snake. but in my heart ! [Exit Eittc.
KkitlNE. What, Eric ! then all I trembled at is true.
Gone ! And such words as those ! Oh, gracious 'leaven,
Lou), down on her who bath no hope of earth !
My husband must be—yes, great God ! he is—mal:

Working on the insanity he has produced, Peter-
son succeeds in causing the king to imbrue his
hands in the blood of Nils Sture and his 'father,
both of whom he slays in prison. This flagrant
act of injustice and murder is resented by the
nobles, led on by Milne, the mother of Nils and
widow of the elder Sture. Eric is driven to extre-
mity and ffies, and Karine, after enduring. much
ignominy, insult, and suffering, is allowed to escape
in peasant garb, and to take with her their only
child. She rejoins her exiled and dethroned lord,
now restored to a sad sense of the wild deeds he
has committed in his hours of phrenzy. Tiere is
something beautifully touching in his feeling out-
burst, when Karine tells him that their child is
Borne, in peasant dress,
Beyond the frontier.
Eittc. My baby exile, God preserve the sane,
Discrowned of pride, but monarch of thy mind !

The captive king is in the hands of Milne, and
by her condemned to drink a poisoned cup, the
fatal draught of which shared by Karine, and both
die together. The closing scene is one of great
power, and is finely wrought. The character of
Milne is designed and filled in with masterly skill.
High tempered, energetic, and unbending, when
once bent on her revenge she pursues it with
unswerving firmness and relentless hate ; she forms
in all respects a striking contrast to the gentle
and pure-minded Karine. The leading characters
are well and skilfully drawn, and the piece abounds
in interesting scenes and situations ; and the draw-
backs which will weigh upon it as an acting drama
are of a technical, rather than of an artistic or
poetic order. The dialogue is in general ivell-
sustained, and is full of noble sentiments. From
the specimens before us we should be inclined to
augur hopefully of Melanter's future efforts, and
feel assured he has drank too deeply of Castalia's
stream to withdraw his devotion from Melpomene.

Brazil, the River Plate, and the Falkland Is-

lands. By Wm. Hadfield. London : Longmans..
The beautifully got-up volume before us has
numerous claims upon public attention. It is-par-
ticularly suited to the mercantile community, and
must pdssess an especial interest in the estimation
of the intelligent commercial population of Liver-
pool. The work, although setting up few claims
to high literary character, is written in a clear,
forcible, and comprehensive style ; and, fron( the
thorough practical knowledge displayed by its
author on the various and important subjects
which fall under his review, it unostentatiously
advandes claims on public consideration, which it
fully sustains and justifies. It may be termed the
codified result of matured experience, in a commer-
cial and social sense, of the condition and prospects
of Braiil and La Plata ; of a similar knowledge of
the chief of the Falkland Islands, and contains in-
cidental, but pleasing and shrewd, remarks on
Lisbon, Madeira, the Canary and Cape de Verde
Islands ; and has also sagacious observations rela-
tive to the advantages and disadvantages of the
Cape Horn route to Australia. The object' Mr.
Hadfield started with in planning his volume; and
which object he has kept steadily in view through-
out its progress, was the development of the com-
mercial resources possessed by the respective
countries he treats of, and to show the means by
and the direction in which these resources could
be made available to the British people, and most
conducive to the advancement of the countries
themselves. Keeping this philanthropic purpose
steadily in view, he has nevertheless had skill and
tact sufficient to embellish his narrative with nu-
merous important historical and physical facts,
which add to its liveliness without impairing in
the slightest degree its utility. In his capacity of
secretary to the American and General Steam Na-
vigation Company, Mr. Hadfield was necessarily
brought to consider attentively the wants of the
important traffic of that extensive section of the
world treated of in his volume, and the best means
for accommodating them ; on this point it will be
best to let him put his own case in his own way.
This he does, after a sensible review of the existing
trade between the eastern coast of South America
and Europe prior to the application of steam to its
navigation. In this review, he finds that, so long
ago as 1851, Liverpool employed shipping to the
amount of 30,000 tons annually in the Rio Janeiro
and Rio de la Plata trades alone ; that the value
of merchandise transported hence to these regions
amounted to upwards of three millions sterling
yearly ; and that that large export consisted chiefly
of goods manufactured at Manchester ; and, above
all, that that traffic might without difficulty be
vastly increased with increased facilities for its
transport. To be once convinced of a commercial
improvement in Liverpool, is to secure the means
of its accomplishment, and in this, as in other in-
stances, one facility lead rapidly to another, till the
American and General Steam Navigation Company
was instituted and organised under the provisions
of a royal charter ; and in August last year their
first or pioneer steamer sailed from Liverpool for
the River Plate, which, on the 24th of the follow-
ing month, was followed by the Braziliera, a mag-
nificent ocean steamer, under command of Captain
Green. Mr. Hadfield gives the following sum-
mary of the

ADVANTAGES OF STEAM NAVIGATION TO BRAZIL.

In the space of two months a merchant can visit his
Brazil establishment, and another, under three months,
can look after his River Plate affair, often saving himself
much anxiety and loss of time. The manufacturer can,
without great trouble, make himself acquainted with the
markets he wishes to trade to; the botanist and naturalist
can quickly be transported to the virgin ground of Para-
guay, or, now that the Brazilian governinent have placed
contract steamers on the greatest of all great rivers, may
ascend the Amazon with like certainty of reward as novel
and varied, and depend on a prompt return of his newly-
acquired specimens. Whilst, which is equally important,
the natives of those countries have an opportunity of
visiting Europe, and forming, by personal contact, those
relations of amity and goodwill which tend so much to
soften prejudices, and bring about a right understanding
on all points mutually advantageous.

His claims to consideration as an authority on
the subject he grounds on practically acquired
information, derived from long residence on the
South American continent, and he puts those
claims forward with an ingenuousness and direct-
ness of purpose characteristic of a man of business
habits and intelligence. Although his objects are
chiefly of a commercial character, he does not
confine himself exclusively to topics connected with
the counting-house or store—with the plantation
or the wharf,—but freely illustrates his remarks
upon subjects connected with them by reference to
the natural and social circumstances which confer
upon these the impress and tone of a distinctive
traffic. Ile also touches with readiness and
decision upon the habits and peculiarities of the
people among whom he sojourned, and of those who
by their position in life were able to sway the lead-
ing events of South American polity. In his
pages we are brought into familiar acquaintance
with the leading men of the republics, such as
Lopez,
Uriquiza, and Rosas, besides others whose
names occupy prominent places in the history of
those states. In addition to numerous well-
executed views and portraits, the volume is beauti-
fully, as well as usefully, illustrated by maps of
South America and its rivers, and of the Falkland
Wands,

Forty-six Short Sermons on various interesting
subjects, especially designed for Sabbath Even-
ing Reading. By the Rev. W. Dransfield.
London : Aylott and Co.

The volume before us is composed and published
by a veteran labourer in the Gospel vineyard, who
has already been long and familiarly known to an
extensive class of the religious public. The
sermons are put forth under the modest desire of
being useful in "assisting the devotions of families,"
and they are peculiarly fitted for the domestic
circle ; more especially under circumstances which
preclude attendance on divine worship in the parish
church. They are eminently practical in their
character, and earnest in their style—enforcing
with unaffected eloquence the comforting assurances
of Christian hope—and commending by instructive
precept the benevolence and charity of Christian
love.

The Dublin University
_Magazine. Dublin :

James MeGlaslian.

The June number of this Magazine is scarcely
so marked by interesting novelty as some of its
predecessors have been, but it is still rich enough
in this particular to claim and deserve a high place
in the periodical literature of the day.
,It opens
with a judicious chapter on the teaching and value
of Alison's History of Europe, from 1815 to 1852,
in which the writer, after a somewhat subtle in-
quiry, concludes his analysis by a compliment to
the temper, industry, and unusual sagacity of the
great historian. This paper is followed by an
amusing essay on French Dramatists and Actors.
It forms a second portion of the very interesting
series, and is replete with well-told anecdotes,
illustrative of French theatrical life before and be-
hind the scenes. In one of the figurantes of this
life drama, Mademoiselle Clairon, we have another
of the numerous instances in which an early predi-
lection for the stage has been formed by accident
and fostered by unconquerable resolution under
the pressure of great difficulties, aided solely by
an unswerving resolution and an ardent desire for
distinction. That Clairon had the true feeling
' for her art, was speedily manifested ; and that she
duly appreciated its pretensions and necessities, she
also made equally apparent, as well in the business
of real life as in the mimic scenes which are made
to represent its essence on the stage. According
to her views, and on this point there is much truth
in them, an actor or actress should be, off the stage,
to a considerable extent, the same sort of being
which she or he is desirous of appearing on it.
" The tragic actor," says La Clairon, " should ap-
propriate, in common life, the style and manners
of such characters as his cast of parts most fre-
quently requires. If lam only a vulgar and ordi-
nary woman during twenty of the four-and-twenty
hours of the day, whatever efforts I may make I
shall only be an Ordinary and vulgar woman in
Agrippina or Semieramis during the remaining
four." There is much sound sense in such a re-
mark, and although it is a maxim easily rendered
ridiculous by over-effort, it is based on sound
philosophy ; and though more concentrated, and
more elegantly expressed in Goldsmith's happy
phrase—
"— Seeming blest, they grow to what they seem."
Still it is an aphorism which mntatis mutandis
may be safely and profitably applied through all
the occupations and positions of life. The well-
told tale of " Sir Jasper Carew" is brought to a
conclusion in the present number ; which, besides
other papers of much interest in addition to those
named, has one or two analytical reviews of new
publications, and is concluded by a capital article
under the title of " Midsummer with the Muses,"
in jvhich an ably-written and eloquent, as well as
generous, estimate is given of the character and
quality of a considerable quantity of the current
poetry of the day.