The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-01-19 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

HORSESHOES. Hooseshoeing was not practised for THE REIGNING SOVEREIGNS OF EUROPE.
many general
centuriesnor
were after
hoof-protectorsth e ho horse
essentially
e
use;
(From the
_Deutsche Allyemeine Zeitung.)
paved tracts and hard roads became more frequent than Of the 52 sovereigns reigning in Europe, two of them
himself
was
necessary in
verygen
u
they were in old times. The first foot defence of the have reached their 70th year—the King of Hanover, the
horse seems to have been copied from that of his master. oldest sovereign in Europe, since the death of Gregory
It was a sort of sandal, commonly made of matting, rope, XVI., and the King of the French. Of the other sove-
or leather. The Emperor Nero, in his profusion, had reigns, 13 are between 60 and 70 years of age, 14 from 50
his horses and mules shod with silver; and his empress, to 60,11 from 40 to 50, eight from 20 to 30, and two have
Poppa, was not content with less than gold for the same not reached their 20th year, namely, the Queen of Spain,
purpose. These sandals were very insecure, and were apt who is only 16 years 3 months, and the Prince of Waldeck,
to be left sticking in the mud they
.were, therefore, sel- who is not yet 16, Of all the sovereigns, the Prince of
dom put on the animal for the whole journey, but only at Schaumburg-Lippe has reigned the longest of the time, if
the worst places. Nor did they appear to have been ade- his minority be counted. He has reigned for nearly 60
quate to protect the hoof from injury ; for instance, when years. Two have reigned for more than 40 years, equally Mithridates was besieging the town of Cyzicus, in his counting their minority ; four from 30 to 40 years • nine
Y from 20 to 30 years ; 21 from 10 to 20 years ; the 15'other
first war against the Romans, he was obliged to send away
his whole cavalry to Bithynia, because the horses' hoofs sovereigns, of whom three ascended the throne during
were all worn down, and their feet disordered.—The 1845, have not reigned more than 10 years. By counting
Horse and his Rider. the reign from the date only of majority, not counting the
ORIGIN OF BLIND MAN'S BUFF.—The French call years in which a sovereign was still a minor, the longest
" blind man's buff " colin-maillard, and the following is reign is that of the Duchess of Parma, (32 years 7 months), the history of its origin : Father Maillard, a severe dis- as the Princes of Schaumbur-Lippe, of Lippe and
ciplinarian, was the confessor of Charles VIII. This Schwarzburg Rudolstadt, and tle Duke of Saxe-Meinin-
prince had a female favourite named Carnelle. The fa- gen, reigned many years before the reached their
ther, whose presence was not agreeable to her, often found majority. y
her at supper with the king. In order 'that she might Six Sovereigns are unmarried, namely (independently
have some mirth with him, and by degrees induce him to of the Pope), the Grand Duke of Mechlenburg-Schwerin,
take part in the romps and pastimes which he disturbed, the Duke of Brunswick, the Princes of Reuss-Schleitz,
she hit upon the idea of running away, while the king Iteuss-Ebersdorf, and of Waldeck. The King of Hano-
was to catch her. " There is no art," said she, "in catch- ver, the Grand Dukes of Hesse and of Oldenburg, and the
ing me, for you can run faster than I can. But suppose Duke of Nassau, are widowers ; the Duchess of Parma is
that I were to tie something over your eyes." Well, do a widow. The Sultan is a polygamist. The Elector of
so," said the king, whom she used to call her Colin. She Hpscp ,• ITll_ -n,.

fifteen years ago, were

A prisoner in Hertford gaol has died of erysipelas,
supposed to have been produced from a serious cut from
a cutlass, inflicted by one of the county police in cap-
turing the prisoner. The jury, at the coroner's inquest,
thought that the officer had displayed excessive zeal ra-
ther than want of duty.

It is said that a company is about to be formed in
London for the erection of public ovens, on the same
principle as the baths and wash-houses. The labouring
poor will then be enabled to make their own bread, as
pans and other requisites will be provided, and the baking
performed at a trifling expense.
The congregation of St. John's Chapel, Bedford-row,
London, contributed on Sunday week the munificent sum
of £1,240, and upwards, after sermons preached by the
Hon. and Rev. B. W. Noel, and the Rev. J. G. Garrard,
in aid of our destitute fellow-subjects in Ireland and
Scotland.

In consequence of the high price and scarcity of pota-
toes, the visiting justices of the Bucks county prison have
ordered a substitution of carrots for potatoes in the
dietary of the gaol. They have also expressed their de-
termination, in the event of the price of carrots being
raised, to make a trial of rice likewise, as a similar sub-
stitute.

Never since the establishment of horse-racing in Eng-
land have there been so many horses in training as there
are at the present time. The entries for the various stakes,
which closed on the Ist of January, are so numerically
strong, as to leave-no doubt in the mind of even the most
prejudiced person that the Bentinck rules have been pro-
ductive of all the good results which were anticipated by
their founder.

MRS: BUTLER (LATE FANNY KEMBLE.)—Mr. Bunn
has made an offer of £5O a night to the lady named above
to re-appear at the Drury-lane theatre. The sum is the
highest ever paid to to Mrs. Siddons—Mrs. Butler's aunt ;
but as Mrs. Butler demands £lOO per night, and Mr.
Bunn cannot comply with such exorbitant terms, the
negotiation which was opened has terminated unsatis-
factorily.

The schoolmaster of the Chertsey Union was killed on
Saturday week, by trying to jump from the carriage after
it had started from the Weybridge station on the South
Western line. Having been asleep, he did not hear the
name of the station called out till after the train had
started, when he tried to jump out, but his clothes catch-
ing in the carriages, he fell, and was killed almost instan-
taneously.

SALE OF A WIFE.—A woman, named Harriet Trotter,
was sold by her husband at the Corn Exchange, Shef-
field, on Tuesday, against her will. She and her husband
had often quarrelled, and he threatened to kill her if she
would not consent to- be sold by auction. The Mayor of
Sheffield interfered before the woman was removed from
the Corn Exchange and she was placed in custody, and

warrants were issued for the apprehension of the husband.
DESTITUTION IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.—The Bri-
tish Association Fund for the relief of the distress in
Ireland and Scotland, at the head of which stands the
Queen's name, that of the Qtieen Dowager, Prince Albert,
&c., has already reached upwards of £40,000; in addition
to which there is the Famine Relief Fund, so successfully
set on foot by the National Club, which amounts to
between £7OOO and £BOOO, and is daily receiving fresh
subscriptions.
NOTICE TO QUIT ! —Lord Grey has sent despatches to

thei;appointments for six years and more, informing them
that he will observe the rule which was laid down by Sir
George Murray, when Secretary of State for the Colonies,
viz., that six years shall be the duration of a governor's
appointment. His lordship, it is said, has also intimated
that the successors of such governors will be forthwith
appointed, and may be expected within three months from
the receipt of the despatches. _ _ _

REVIVAL OF LETTERS OF MARQUE.—A novel depart-
ment of business was commenced on Thursday in the
eastern part of the metropolis, in the shape of the opening
of an office for the purpose of granting letters of marque
and reprisal, according to the decrees of the Mexican
Government, against the United States. This sounds
strange to the ears of the " new generation," and will
doubtless bring back painful recollections to those who
remember the palmy days of legal buccaneering. The
Spectator judiciously reminds persons feeling disposed to
comply with this invitation, that they had better read the
message of President Polk, in which he declares that cer-
tain privateers will be treated as pirates.
BUCKS MAGISTRATES V. THE GAME LAWS.—At the
recently held Epiphany Quarter Session, at Aylesbury,
two of the magistrates expressed their disapprobation of
the Game Laws. The Rev. J. Pigott " considered them
detestable laws, and that they were incentive to crime ;"
and said if he had been a poor man, he believed he should
have been a poacher. Mr. John Lee, LL.D., of Hart-
well-park, placed the following motion on the book for
the next session :—" That all expenses incurred in the
prosecution of Game Law offenders shall be paid by the
parties prosecuting, and not by the county ; and that the
clerk of the peace be instructed to give an account of the
number of persons convicted of such offences, with the
expenses relating thereto from the year 1840 to 1846."
GAOL PREFERRED TO HOME the journal of the
assistant-chaplain of the county gaol read at the late
Gloucestershire Sessions, it was stated that an old of-
fender, of the name of Wilkins, gave as his reason 'for
his many appearances in the prison that he was much
more comfortable there than at his own wretched dwel-
ling, and greatly preferred it ! A general impression of
this kind prevails, and not without reason. The inmate
of a prison, it is true, loses his liberty and undergoes some
irksome labour, but as regards food, lodging, and moral
improvement, he is better off than many honest indivi-
duals of the same station outside the walls.—We observe
from the Chester Sessions report, that a feeling akin to
that alluded to above, also prevails in that county.
POOR-LAW MERCY.—At the petty sessions at Dedding-
ton, before Mr. J. Lechmere and the Rev. W. C. Risley,
the overseer of North Aston applied for an order on
Henry Nixon. to support his father. Nixon s

lid he was
unable to support his father, or he would. He earned
nine shillings per week, and had worked on one farm for
forty years : in the summer he was ill for nearly a quarter
of a year, and, as the parish would not relieve him, he was
obliged to get into debt ; this he had not yet been able to
pay. He was a widower, and had four children, one of
whom kept his house, and the rest were away. The over-
seer said he made the application by order of the Board
of Guardians. The magistrates refused to make an order
on the defendant, and dismissed the case. They ordered
the overseer to pay the poor man for his day's work.
DEATH OF A CHILD THROUGH MEDICINE TAKEN
BY THE MOTHER.—On Thursday, an inquest was held
in London, on the body of a child ten weeks old. Mary
Anne Bromfield, the mother, stated that she was unwell
from her recent confinement, and that she took some
pills which caused excessive salivation. She continued to
suckle the deceased, but the infant soon got affected with
the pills, which she (the mother) had taken, and notwith-
standing every care the child died. Other evidence was
given of a similar nature, and the jury returned the fol-
lowing verdict :—" That the deceased died from the
effects of mercury imbibed through the mother's milk,
she having been in a state of salivation, by taking two
antibilious pills, containing not quite two grains of mer-
cury. At the same time, we do not find that blame was
attributable to any person."
PRICE OF MUSLIN.—A gentleman connected with an
extensive manufacturing establishment in Paisley, when
looking over some papers a few days ago, met with a let-
ter from the correspondent of the house in London, con-
taining the following curious information. The letter is
dated the 17th of April, 1790, the period when the muslin
trade was first commenced in Scotland, and the following
is an extract :—" We have as yet sold only one piece
of our muslins, for which we have received the cash, with
many good wishes for our success. We undertand that
fine muslins are most in demand. and Co. sold
a piece of Scotch muslin last Saturday, containing 10 yds.,
for £15., being 30s. per yard." The letter goes on re-
ferring to the prices paid for tamboured muslin • but the
price stated for plain is by far the most remarkable. part
of its contents.—Glasgow Chronicle.
THE IRONMASTERS' MEETING AT BIRMINGHAM,
THURSDAY.—The usual quarterly meeting of the iron-
trade took place in the Town-hall here to-day. The
from wißtheigithuefialewgietriegr t makers seemed to be, that there had been an at-
tempt tr i ctehse a gprreeesde
nt ot atTthhe
elastgeneral
meeting
neralimpwreearseiefnullaymmeanignsttainthede
considered good, but these were dependent on the adher-
en
movementc e
any
yexisting
advance
vn a nthme p ior
ovc
nee sr-
t;
er
xa
da ns
etd
of
fg wes
such
arecaht e
as able
B t
ao r
character-a nr
on
nao
su
wnt
oca es
war-
rant,
r oe n:
tfoorrairiosen. pricesTh e inconsistent
orders
thmeapt
demand made
the best possible authority, that there is not the slightest-
mate