The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-01-16 00:00:00

A DOSE.

(From Hood's Comic illanazine.)
" Ellen, you have been out."
" Well, I know I have."
'• To the King's Head."
" No, John, no. But no matter. You'll be troubled
no more with my drinking."
" What do you mean ?"
" I mean what I say, John," replied the wife, looking
very serious, and speaking very solemnly and deliberately,
with a strong emphasis on every word. " You—will—be
—troubled—no—more—with—my—drinking—l HAVE
TOOK IT AT LAST."
" I knew it !" exclaimed the wretched husband, despe-
rately tossing his arms aloft, as when all is lost. " I
knew it !"—and, leaving one coat flap in the hands of his
wife, who vainly attempted to detain him, he rushed from
the room—sprang down the stairs, both flights, by two
and three stairs at a time—ran along the passage, and
without his hat or gloves, or stick, dashed out at the street
door, sweeping from the step two ragged little girls, a
quartern loaf, a bason of treacle, and a baby. But be
never stopped to ask if the children were hurt, or even to
see whether the infant dripped with gore or molasses.
Away he ran, like a rabid dog, straight forward, down the
Borough, heedless alike of a porter's load, baker's basket,
and butcher's tray.
" I say," muttered the errand boy as he staggered from
the collision.

" Do that.agin," growled the placard man, as he reco-
vered the pole and board which had been knocked from
his shoulder.

" Mind where you're goin' " bawled a hawker, as he
picked up his scattered wares •, whilst a dandy, suddenly
thrust into the kennel, launched after the runner one of
those verbal missiles which are said to return, like the
boomerang, to those who launch them.
But on, on, on scampered the Teetotaller, heedless of
all impediments—on be scoured, like a he Camilla, to the
shop, number 240, with the red, blue, and green bottles in
the window—the chemist and druggist's, into which he
darted, and up to the little bald man at the desk, with
barely breath enough left to gasp out "My wife !"
" Poison !" and " Pump!"
" Vegetable or mineral ?" inquired the Surgeon-Apo-
thecary, with professional coolness.
Both—all sorts—laudnum—assnick—oxalic acid—cor-
rosive sublimity"—and the Teatotaller was about to add
pine-apple rum, amongst the poisons, when the Doctor
stopped him.
" Is she sick ?" _ _

_ .
" No." But remembering the symptoms overnight,
the Teatotaller ventured to say, on the strength of his
dream, that she was turning all manner of colours, like a
rainbow, and swelling as big as a house.
el" Then there is not a moment to lose," said the Escu-
lapius, and accordingly clapping on his hat, and arming
himself with the necessary apparatus—a sort of elephan-
tine syringe with a very long trunk—be set off a trot,
guided by the Teatotaller, to unpoison the rash and ill-
fated bacchanalian, Mrs. Burrage.
" And did he save ber ?"

" My dear madam, be content to let that issue remain
a little, and accumulate interest, like a sum in the Saving
Bank.

Now, when the Teatotaller, with the medical man at
his heels, arrived at his own house, Mrs. Burrage was
still in her bed-room ; which was a great convenience, for
before she could account for the intrusion of the stranger,

nay even without exactly knowing how it was done, she
suddenly found herself seated—more zealously than ten-
derly or ceremoniously—in the easy chair; and when she
attempted to expostulate, she felt herself choking' with a
tube of something, which was certainly neither maccaroni,
nor stick-licorice, nor yet pipe-peppermint.
To account for this precipitancy, the exaggerated repre-
sentations of her husband must be borne in mind ; and if
his wife did not exhibit all the dying dolphin-like colours
that he had described,—if she was not yet quite so blue,
green, yellow, or black, as he had painted her, the apothe-
cary made sure that she soon would be, and consequently
went to work without delay, where delays were so dan-
gerous.

Mrs. Burrage, however, was not a woman to submit
quietly to a disagreeable operation, against her own con-
sent ; so with a vigourous kick and a push, at the same
time, she contrived to rid herself at once of the doctor
and his instrument, and indignantly demanded to know
the meaning of the assault upon her.
" It's to save your life—your precious life, Ellen," said
the Teatotaller, very solemnly.
" It's to empty the stomach ma'am," said the doctor.
" Empty a fiddle," retorted Mrs. 8., who would have
added " stick," but the doctor, watching his opportunity,
had dexterously popped the tube again into her open
mouth : not without a fresh scuffle from the patient.
" For the Lord's sake, Ellen," entreated the Teatotal-
ler, confining her hand, " do, do, pray do sit quiet." _

. .
" Pob—wiib—wobble," said Ellen. " H üb—bub—bub
—bubble," attempting to speak with another pipe in her
throat besides the windpipe.
" Have the goodness, ma'am, to be composed," im-
plored the doctor.
" I won't," shouted Mrs. Burrage, having again relea-
sed herself from the instrument by a desperate struggle.
" What am Ito be pumped out for ?"
" Oh, Ellen, Ellen," said the Teatotaller, " you know
what you have taken."
." Corrosive salts and narcotics," put in the doctor.
" Assnic and corrosive sublimity,' said the Teatotaller.
" Oxalicacid and tincture of opium," added the doctor.
" Fly water and laurel water," said Mr. Burrage.
"Vitriol, prussic acid, and aqua fortis," continued the
druggist. _ _ _

...Tye took no such thing," said the refractory patient.
"Oh Ellen, you know what you said."
" Well, what."
" Why, that your drinking should never trouble me any
more."

"And no more it shall!" screamed the wilful woman,
falling, as she spoke, into convulsive paroxysms of the
wildest laughter. "No mare it shall, for I've took—"
" What ma'am, pray what ?"
"In the name of Heaven ! What ? "
"Why then—l've took the PLEDGE ! "

How TO WRITE CLEARLY AND FORCIBLY.—A man
fully possessed of his subject, and confident of his
cause, may almost always write with vigour and effect, if
he can get over the temptation of writing finely, and really
confine himself to the strong and clear exposition of the
matter he has to bring forward. Half of the affectation
and offensive pretension we meet with in authors is tram a
want of matter, and the other half from a paltry ambition
of being eloquent and ingenious out of place.—Lord
Jeffrey.
THE QUEEK AND HER PlANO.—There iS a funny
story of the quite youthful Victoria that, when first invited
to take lessons on the pianoforte, she objected strongly to
the monotonous hours spent in finger ing," and at the
gamut. She was informed that all future success in that
delightful art depended upon being perfect mistress of her
pianno.—" Oh, I am to be mistress of my piano, am I?"
asked the ingenuous girl. To which inquiry it was replied,
" Undoubtedly." Then what would you think of me if
I became mistress at once?" continued the princess."
" That would be impossible. There is no royal road to
music. Experience and great practice are essential."
" Oh, there is no royal road to -music—eh ? No royal
road. And lam not mistress of my pianoforte? But I
will be, I assure you, and the royal road is this "—at the
same moment closing the pianoforte, locking it, and taking
the key. " There' that's being mistress of the piano! and
the royal road to learn is never to take a lesson till you're
in the humour to do it."—Fraser's Magazine.
LIBERAL PRINCIPLES OF THE DUKE OF KENT.—I re-
member on one occasion, at a public banquet, at which
the Dukes of Kent and Sussex were present, the former
returned thanks on the part of the royal family for the ho-
nour which had been conferred by the health of the junior
members having been drunk ; and the noble duke then
hastily glanced at his own position. " I am a friend of
civil and religious liberty, all the world over," said his
royal highness. "lam an enemy to all religious tests. I
am a supporter of a general system of education. All men
are my brethren • and I hold that power is only delegated
for the benefit of people. These are the principles of
myself and of my beloved brother the Duke of Sussex.
They are not popular principles just now ; that is, they
do not conduct to place or office. All the members of the
royal family do not hold the same principles. For this I
do not blame them ; but we claim for ourselves the right
of thinking and acting as we think best ; and we proclaim
ourselves, with our friend Mr. Tierney, ' members of his
majesty's loyal opposition.' "—Fraser's Magazine.
A FRUGAL SOVEREIGN.—It is unnecessary for me to
observe, that in his personal expenditure, as well as in
that of his family and court, there is not a more frugal
sovereign in Europe than Louis of Bavaria. He is frugal,
not with a view to hoard up money in foreign funds, as
other crowned heads are known to do, but to accumulate
in every form, in his capital, and even in the most remote
districts of his kingdom, specimens of the fine arts, exe-
cuted in the highest style of perfection. His pure clas
sical taste, inspired by a warm and brilliant imagination,
forbids him to attempt any work undeserving the approval
of the most severe critic, and the applause of future ages.
His habits at Bruckenau are, as I was informed by some
of those best acquainted with them, of the most simple
kind, touched with a disposition to romance which he has
shown from his youth upwards. He rises early, walks a
great deal, always alone, through the woods and moun-
tains around, preferring the margins of the brooks which
flow through those charming scenes in great abundance.
He often sits down beneath the shade of a tree, or upon
a flowery bank, to listen to their music, forgetting altoge-
ther, for the time, that he has upon his shoulders the
weight of a kingdom. But he has his stated hours for
business, to which he regularly attends : he bad with him
at Bruckenau his celebrated minister, M. Abell, and a
member of his council of state, M. Schilcher, together
with several secretaries, who were said to be constantly
employed. As a husband and the father of a family, Louis
is a model for sovereigns. Neither the Queen nor any of
their children were with him upon this occasion. It is
very well known that his majesty has published several
volumes of poetry, chiefly containing his meditations
upon the scenes he had visited, and the objects of art
which he admired in Greece and Italy. But amongst his
effusions are found many admirable thoughts upon the
philosophy of life, which speak a high and gifted mind,
deeply imbued with a sense of religion, and a true feel-
ing as to the vanity of all human enjoyments.—Quin's
Travels,

SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS.—In the religious world,
as it is called, of. the present day, three classes of minds
distinctly appear, the spiritual, the intellectual, and the
formal; and in the world around, who turn not their
thoughts to religion, there are the same three classes re-
markably distinct among men at the present time. It is
by cherishing these feelings and combining them, and hot
by suppressing them, that the church will become efficient
in laying hold of, and guiding and turning to good ac-
count, these same desires in the world, and of which she
is given the fellow-feeling for this very end. There is a
very high tone of spirituality in one party in the church,
far higher, we believe, than at any preceding period., which
is given them to lay hold of, and bring into the church, all
that class of men who are of a spiritual character in the
world. There is a higher tone of intellectual acquirement
in the church now than at any former period, to meet the
wants or this highly intellectual age. And there is a taste
for form and order revived, in a very remarkable degree,
and among very numerous classes, in the church, and in
the world. These characteristics, now appearing sepa-
rately, need to be combined in the church : while they
continue in separate operation, they not only work divi-
sion and confusion in the church, but the good qualities
themselves have a tendency to degenerate and become
positively evil. Spirituality, if cultivated exclusively, will
soon become little better than Methodism or Dissent, if
it do not dwindle down into the follies of Swedenborgh
and the Quakers. The menaal acquirements of the church
need the root and vigour of spirituality to keep them from
running into the rationalism and neology of Germany, or
the baser form of our sheer infidelity. And the love of
antiquity and delight in ancient forms and practices, which
as being old, must necessarily be for the most part Ro-
man, requires all our care, and the ballast also of spirit-
uality and theology, to keep it right; for. in our admira-
tion of ancient forms we are in continual risk of approving
and adopting ancient errors and superstitions.—Church
of England Quarterly Review.

AN AMERICAN PATRIOT.—Mr. Chollop was, of course,
one of the most remarkable men in the country ; but he
really was a notorious person besides. He was usually
described by his friends, in the south and west, as " a
sample of our na-tive raw material, Sir," and was much
esteemed for his devotion to rational liberty ; for the better
propagation whereof he usually carried a brace of revolv-
ing-pistols in his coat pocket, with seven barrels apiece.
He also carried, amongst other trinkets, a sword-stick,
which he called his " tickler ;" and a great knife, which
(for he was a man of pleasant turn of humour) he called
" ripper," in allusion to its usefulness as a means of ven-
tilating the stomach of any adversary in a close contest.
He had used these weapons with distinguished effect in
several instances; all duly chronicled in the newspapers;
and was greatly beloved for the gallant manner in which
he had "jobbed out" the eye of one gentleman, as he was
in the act of knocking at his own street-door. Mr. Chol-
lop was a man of roving disposition ; and, in any less ad-
vanced community, might have been mistaken fur a vio-
lent vagabond. But his fine qualities being perfectly un-
derstood and appreciated in those regions where his lot
was cast, and where he had many kindred spirits to con-
sort with, 40 may be regarded as having been born under
a fortunate star, which is not always the case with a man
so much before the age in which he lives. Preferring,
with a view to the gratification of his tickling and ripping
fancies, to dwell upon the outskirts of society, and in the
more remote towns and cities, he was in the habit of emi-
grating from place to place, and establishing in each some
business—usually a newspaper—which he presently sold;
for the most part closing the bargain by challenging, stab-
bing, pistoling, or gouging, the new editor, before he had
quite taken possession of the property. He had come to
Eden on a speculation of this kind, but had abandoned it,
and was about to leave. He always introduced himself to
strangers as a worshipper of freedom ; was the consistent
advocate of Lynch law and slavery; and invariably re-
commended, both in print and speech, the " tarring and
feathering" of any unpopular person who differed from
himself. He called this " planting the standard of civilisa-
tion in the wilder gardens of my country."—Dickens.

THE USE OF SYMBOLS IN RELIGIOUS WORSHIP A
PROOF OF THE DECLENSION OF SPIRITUALITY.—The
truth of God asks only for men as its exponents ; but it
is not difficult, in the exercise of a pious fancy, to attach
meanings innumerable, of spiritual import, to the use of
any material and inanimate thing. Again, as regards
lights by the side of the altar, flowers upon the altar, in-
cense, &c., it should be remembered that their use was
of the growth of time ; that they are each symbols of
realities, and, as such, could have no true place where
the reality existed ; and that they. gradually came to be
part of the ceremonial of the worship of the church, as
the realities which they symbolised ceased to be mani-
fested; the people, in like manner, becoming gradually
accustomed to their use, as the higher things of life and
power died out, and were reconciled to the loss of the
reality itself by some gorgeous and external resemblance
of its existence. To take one example : when the church
forgot, and ceased to stand in her true character as the
intercessor for all men on earth, the reality was substi-
tuted and preserved in remembrance by the visible as-
cending of material incense. Lighted candles, incense,
&c., are, therefore, so many testimonies which the church
unconsciously holds forth to men of her own unfaithful-
ness, and not the proper expression of mysteries and re-
alities which she cannot otherwise show; for then would
she fall into the position of the Jewish Church before the
coining of our Lord.—Church of England Quarterly
Review.

FITZ-BOODLE'S HINT TO THE LADIES.—Whilst ladies
persist in maintaining the strictly defensive condition,
men must naturally, as it were, take the opposite line,
that of attack ; otherwise, if both parties held aloof, there
would be no more marriages; and the two hosts would
die in their respective inaction, without ever coming to a
battle. Thus it is evident that as the ladies will not, the
men must take the offensive. I, for my part, have made,
in the course of my life, at least a score of chivalrous at-
tacks upon several strongly fortified hearts. Sometimes
I began my works too late in the season, and winter sud-
denly came and rendered further labours impossible;
sometimes I have attacked the breach madly, sword in
hand, and have been plunged violently from the scaling-
ladder into the ditch ; sometimes I have made a decent
lodgment in the place, when—bang ! blows up a mine,
and I am scattered to the deuce ! and sometimes when I
have been in the very heart of the citadel—ah, that I
should say it !—a sudden panic has struck me, and I have
run like the British out of Carthagena One grows tired
after a while of such perpetual activity. Is it not time
that the ladies should take an innings? Let us widowers
and bachelors form an association to declare, that for the
nest hundred years we will make love no longer. Let
the young women come and make love to us ; let them
write us verses ; let them ask us to dance, get us ices and
cups of tea, and help us on with our cloaks at the hall-
door; and if they are eligible, we may perhaps be induced
to yield and say, " La, Miss Hopkins—l really never—l
am so agitated—ask papa !"—Frager'B Magazine.
THE PRINCESS VICTORIA AND THE OLD IRISHWOMAN.
—There was a little incident connected with my first im-
pressions and first sight of the Princess Victoria, which I
record with pleasure. As she proceeded up the High
Street from the sands, there sat on the low step of a closed
shop an aged Irishwoman, pale, wan, dejected, sorrowing,
her head bent forward, and, whilst all nature was gay, she
looked sickly, sad, and famishing. Whether she was too
depressed to beg, or too exhausted at the moment to make
the effort, I cannot tell ; but she asked for no alms, and
even looked not at the passers-by. The young princess
was attracted by her appearance, and spoke to the duchess.
" I think not," were the only words I heard from her
mamma ; and, " Oh ! yes, indeed," was all I could catch
of the youthful reply. I have no doubt that the. duchess
thought the old woman was not in need of relief, or would
be offended by the offer of alms; but the princess had
looked under her bonnet, and gained a better insight into
her condition. There was a momentary pause; the Prin-
cess Victoria ran back a few steps most nimbly, and with
a smile of heartfelt delight placed some silver in the hands
of the old Irishwoman. Tall and stately was the poor
creature, and as she rose slowly with clasped hands and
rivetted features, she implored the blessing of heaven on
the " English lady." She little dreamed that that lady
would be the future queen of these realms, or that she was
a member of that house of Brunswick whose illustrious
scions have ever been distinguished for their sympathy
with human suffering, and for that charity which is kind
and which never faileth. The old Irishwoman was so
taken by surprise by this unexpected mark of beneficence
on the part of she knew not whom, that she turned over
her sixpences again and again, thanked the Virgin as well
as the " young lady" a thousand and a thousand times,
and related to those who stopped to hear her exclamations
the " good luck" that had come upon her.—Fraser's Ma-
gazine.

AFFECTING INCIDENT.—A few evenings afterwards I
was sitting in the parlour of one of the many little inns I
visited while rambling on the banks of the Tweed, when
the waitress informed me that a sodger was spearin'
after the colonel." He was directed to attend the pre-
sence, and my fellow-voyager, the artilleryman, entered
the chamber, and made his military salaam. " I thought
you were now at Jedburgh." " I went there, sir, but
there has not been any of my family for many a year re-
siding in that place. I met an old packman on the road,
and be tells me there are some persons in the village of
my name. I came here to make inquiries, and hearing
that your honour was in the house, I made bold enough
to ask for you." " Have you walked over?" " Yes,
sir." " 'Tis a long walk ;go down and get some supper
before you commence inquiries." The soldier bowed and
left the room, and presently the hostentered to give me
directions for a route among the Cheviots, which I had
contemplated to take the following day. I mentioned the
soldier's errand. " Sure enough," returned the host,
" there are an old, decent couple of the name here. What
is the sodger called ?" " William," I replied ' • for by
that name his discharge and pension-bill were filled up.
" I'll slip across the street to the sold folk," said Boni-
face, " and ask them a few questions." The episode of
humble life that followed was afterwards thus described
to me by mine host. He found the ancient couple seated
at the fire, the old man reading a chapter in the Bible, as
was his custom always before he and his aged partner re-
tired for the night to rest. The landlord explained the
object of the soldier's visit, and inquired if any of their
children answered the description of the wanderer. "It
is our Jock," exclaimed the old woman,passionately ; and
the puir ne'er-do-weel has come bame at last to close his
mither's eyes." " No," said the landlord, " the man's
name is Walley." " 'Peel, weel, His will be done," said
his helpmate, turning her blue and faded eyes to Heaven,
" I thought the prayer I sae often made would be granted,
and Jock would come home and get my blessing ere he
died." "He has—he has," exclaimed a broken voice,
and the soldier, who had followed the landlord unper-
ceived, and listened at the cottage door, rushed into the
room, and dropped kneeling at his mother's feet--
" Mither, mither, speak and bless me." Alas ! the power
of speech was gone for ever. Joy, like grief, is often fatal
to a worn-out frame. The spirit had calmly passed, the
parent had lived to see and bless her lost one, and expire
in the arms of one who, with all his faults, appeared to
have been her earthly favourite.—Maxwell's Wanderings
in the Highlands, 4,c.
A SHEPHERD'S LIFE IN NEW SOUTH WALES.—The
duties of a shepherd in New South Wales are exceedingly
simple. A flock usually consists of from 400 to 500 ewes,
or from COO to 1000 dry sheep; three flocks being folded
at one station. The shepherd is required to take his sheep
from the fold in the morning, not later than one hour after
sunrise, to keep sight of them on the pastures throughout
the day, and to bring them back at sunset to the fold.
They are then counted over and left in the charge of the
night watchman, whose duty it is to take care of the flocks
in the fold until the morning, when each flock is again
counted and delivered over to the shepherd. In the
lambing season, on well-managed establishments, the ewes
about to lamb are withdrawn from the flock and kept se-
parate, under the care of either the watchman or of some
other person appointed for the purpose, for a few days,
until the lambs are strong enough to travel with the flock.
At shearing time the flocks are brought in rotation to the
home station to be washed and shorn. It is then the
shepherd's business (unless he be also a shearer) to follow
his sheep and take care that they are kept as free as pos_
sible from any kind of dirt, until the fleece is in a fit state
to shear, which, in general, is the case about the third or
fourth day after the washing. From this account of the
ordinary duty of a shepherd in New South Wales, it will
be seen that almost any one is capable of taking charge of
a flock. Sheep are subject to very few diseases ; and with
the treatment of these either the master or the overseer
will be conversant. In such cases the shepherd has only
to follow diligently the directions he may receive from
those under whose superintendence be is placed, and if
possessed of common intelligence he will soon be capable
of acting for himself. In fact a weaver or button-maker,
after a few months' experience, will generally prove a
better shepherd in New South Wales than the man who,
having been brought up as a shepherd in England, may
have acquired habits and prejudices exceedingly difficult
to shake off, however unsuitable to the new position in
which he is placed. In proof of this, it may be noticed
that some of the best superintendents of sheep in the co-
lony are natives of London, Manchester, or Birmingham,
and that few professed English or Scotch shepherds are
entrusted with the care of even a single flock. The duty
of a watchman is as easy as that of a shepherd ; he sleeps
by the fold in a watch-box, trusting to his dogs to awaken
him in case of the approach of a native dog, or any other
cause of alarm ; he counts the sheep in and out, and shifts
the hurdles. Nor is the life of a shepherd at all irksome
to those who have been accustomed to sedentary occupa-
tions. On the contrary, such persons have, in various
instances, become strongly attached to it, which will not
seem surprising when it is considered that it is a life of
very great ease and fr. edom from care. Indeed, it is
commonly remarked of the shepherds that they are more
healthy and seem much more cheerful and contented than
any other class of farm servants. The wages of a shep-
herd or watchman have been of late about £3O a-year, on
an average, and from 71b. to 101 b. of meat, 101 b. of flour,
2oz. of tea, and 11b. of sugar per week ; or, in the place
of tea and sugar, milk. £2O a- year is, however, as much,
as in the present low price of wool, can be given, with
profit to the sheep-owner; and out of this sum a man of
frugal habits may lay by a considerable sum yearly, more
particularly should he learn to shear, by which he may put
a few pounds into his pocket every summer, in additioh
eorld,h
threee
to his wages ; and still more so, should he, by care and
good management, get charge of a breeding flock, and
obtain a prize for rearing a large number of lambs.
e n family,nt eweit with
two
ers,oy
may, after a short time, take charge of a station ; the
teheto fafithfteereo of ,
o a r
s seventeen
BAognasi io f
m hetw be
twelve
sons going out with the flocks, while he acts as watchman,
in which capacity he will have many hours unoccupied
during the day, which may be employed in improving his
cottage and making his house comfortable. He may also
cultivate a garden, or even a small field of corn, whilst his
wife would find full employment in domestic matters, the
rearing of poultry, &c.; and should there be daughters of
sufficient age they will be sure to obtain good situations as
servants in respectable families.—A Summer at Port
phillip.

Jan. 16, 1844.

EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW RAILWAY.

Sir Andrew Agnew has addressed a letter to the share-
holders in this undertaking, from which we etract-the
following passages. After alluding to the fact, which he
states has been established beyond doubt, that the work-
ing of this railway on Sunday is a loss to the company,
Sir Andrew says,

" It is expected that this loss will cease, and that by
and by there will be gain. The character of Scotland
is pledged to the contrary ! In the year 1842 remon-
strances against the unholy traffic were presented to the
Proprietary (and bearing the names of more than 200,000
persons), all of whom declared that they would withhold
their countenance from the railway if it continued to
violate the law of God, and most of whom pledged them-
selves to resort to every other mode of travel rather than
the railway, while it continued in this unhallowed course. -
To this hour, great numbers of these individuals, sub-
mitting to every inconvenience and loss, both of time
and money, refuse absolutely to enter your railway car-
riages on any consideration, and never have entered one
of them : while of those who have betaken themselves,
under extremities, to the railway, scarcely any feel
themselves at ease in so doing, and all are ever on the
look-out for other means of transit. It is also certain,
that besides these, numberless other persons who did not
join in the remonstrances, have declared that they would,
to the utmost of their power, avoid your railway. And
it is quite incalculable how many betake themselves to
it only occasionally, and under the pressure of necessity,
who would be glad with their families to use it frequently,
whether for convenience or for recreation, were it not
placing itself in opposition to the righteous principles of
the nation.

"It is said, to be sure, that the Postmaster-General
has now become a party to the Sabbath traffic, by using
the trains for the conveyance of the mails ; and certain
minds may waver in their opposition on this account.
The Postoffice proceedings ought, on the contrary, to
strengthen their opposition. The transaction with the
Postoffice was entirely the voluntary act of the directors.
They may, by act of parliament, be compelled to trans-
mit the mails, it is said. But then special trains would
be necessary for the purpose ; the Postoffice would need
to pay the whole expense of such trains • and it is per-
fectly understood that that expense would be so great as
to prevent the exercising of the parliamentary powers of
compulsion. Therefore, if you refuse passengers and
railway traffic on the Sabbath, you stop the desecration
at once. By sanctioning them, you commit the desecra-
tion. And let me add, in regard to the whole matter,
that by means of a railway post between Edinburgh and
Glasgow late on Saturday night and early on Monday -
morning, every practical good said to attend the Sabbath '
post would be attained. There is no conceivable inter-
est, therefore, in the public which could justify the ex-
pense of separate Postoffice trains being incurred by the '
Postmaster-General. Your voting for Sabbath traffic is '
the cause of the desecration, and the solemn responsi-
bility still rests upon you and your company.
" Why, then, should this voluntary act of the directors
in contracting with the Postmaster-General, embarrass
the Sabbath question at all ? You are losing character
and money by your Sabbath traffic, and putting your
company into needless and injurious opposition to a
general national feeling, for no real or avowable object
whatever. Were you to act like the proprietors of the
Dundee Railway, and apply to the Postmaster-General
to relieve you from this unjustifiable Sabbath-profaning
contract, you would be a gainer every way,—in charac-
ter, money, and all. If he complied, your abondonment
of your Sabbath traffic would instantly restore the railway
to that popularity which it has lost, and to the consequent
patronage which it has failed hitherto to obtain. And
if he did not comply you would act just as the Dundee
company did. You would complete the period of the
contracts as far as the mails only were concerned, though
that would be a loss. For were loss even to be incurred,
why not sustain it rather than continue in sin ? For it
must be remembered by you, and by every other indi-
vidual shareholder, that the sin is yours personally, as
long as you either countenance or do not oppose the
commission of it by your company. You break the Sab-
bath, and lead others to break the Sabbath ; and I would
apply to you—l must in faithfulness do so—the emphatic
words which, used at the Dundee company's meeting,
led many of the shareholders to abandon the Sabbath
traffic then : It is impossible but that offences will
come ; but woe unto him through whom they come ! It
were better for him that a millstone were hanged about
his neck, and he cast into the sea.'
" The friends of the Sabbath cause do not at all desire
power in any secular matter. We heartily leave that in
the hands of the gentlemen above referred to ; and the
accompanying proxy is so framed as to save every exist-
ing proxy as to all that. But we do ask you, as you
value interests infinitely higher than worldly gain—
illusive hitherto, in the present case, as that has been—
we do ask you to join in putting an end to this great
abuse and profanation which is now, by your means, being
weekly committed on every returning Sabbath-day."

THE SILK MANUFACTORY OF M. STOFELLA

AT ROVEREDO.