The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-04-14 00:00:00

VARIETIES.

" This aint such a werry bad idea, is it, Jim ? Here's
the Great Diddlesia writes to me fur Five Bob on a Hun-
dred an' Fifty Shares; and, to save trouble, rants the
name of my solicilor."—Punch.

A true tale is told of the late Charles Matthews, that,
personating an eccentric orl gentleman, a family friend,
he drank tea with his mother without her finding out the
cheat.

MORE GLORY.—Another horse of Abd-el-Kader has
been s•wt this week. One would fancy that th^ principal
ot-j,7et of the expedition live) Algiers was to supply Franee
with cat's-meat.—Punch.
The city of Naples is the most thieving place on sar
The population is 400,000, viz., 100,000 thieves, 100,00
thieves, 100,000 beggars, 100,000 soldiers and priests, and
the balance decent people, who are mode up of foreigners
(chiefly English), respectable persons, and shopmen, with
the nobility and fishermen, who rank as the most honest
of the Neapolitans.
THE COST OF FASHION..---It is said that five hundred
millions of dollars are spent annually in the United States
for such articles of dress as are subject to the fluctuations
of fashion. Of this sum it is computed that 10,000,000
are spent for hits, probably abut 20,000,000 tor caps and
bonnets, and fur other articles of dress not less than
400,000;000.

THE LAST OF THE OLD SHOPS.—The old fishmon-
ger's shop on the north of the Strand, adjoining Temple_
bar, which retained the ancient pent-house, and reminded
one of the time before plate-glass was, when pains-taking
shopkeepers cried aloud to passers• by, " What d'ye lack ? '
has been taken dow❑ to give room fur a modern erection.
We never passed it without thinking of London then and
London now.— The Builder.

NAMES.—Etna a i . from the German, and signifies a
Nurse : Caroline, fro the Latin, Noble ALnded ; George,
from the Greek, a Farmer; 'Martha, from Hebrew, Bit-
terness ; the beautiful, though common name, Mary, is
Hebrew, and means a Drop of Salt Water, a Tear ;
from Greek, Wisdom ; Susan, from Hebrew, a Lily ;
Thomas, from Hebrew, a Twin; Robert, frum German,
Famous in Council.

WANTED, a Li; active young' men, as officers in a con-
templated campaign under the Sheriff of Middlesex.
These gallant fellows will be chiefly employed in noble
sports, such as hunting the Slag, and other diversions of
a similarly interesting character. Those who have already
served under the gallant Levi, and who have been present
at the taking of so many of the foe, will be very liberally
treated with.—Punch.

To DESTROY COCKROACIIES.—Taite up a flag in the
kitchen floor, scoop out the earth sufficiently to admit a
smooth steep-sided basin on a level with the floor; at the
bottom of the basin place a little oatmeal, slightly moist-
' ened with treacle or beer, and in the morning you will be
astonished at your catch, which you may dispose at leisure
with hot water. If the floor be boarded, you must con-
trive, by means of a heap of a,h;s, or otherwise, to make
for the vermin an easy ascent to the top of the basin.
PARISH CLERKS.—On consulting village registers (par-
ticularly in the Yea!,) it is found that the office of parish
clerk, in nine instances out of ten, is of en vested in one
family. At Hope, the present clerk is the seventh in li-
ne,l succession who has held the office in that village. In
connection with the office in this particular instance, the
following custom has prevailed from time immemorial :
On the conclusion of the ceremony of marriage, the clerk
approaches the happy pair, and claims the privilege of a
kiss from the happy bride. This done, he exclaims" God
spede ye weal !"

LORD PALMERSTON'S PROPTIFCY.—We are going to
exhibit the noble lord in the character of a prnphet. He
rretold not only the free trade policy of Sir Robert Peel
but also the period of its adoption. Speaking in Septem-
ber, 1841, Lord Palmerston said, "The right honourable
baronet had said that he was net prepared to declare that
he would never propose a change in the corn-laws ; but
he certainly should not do so unless at the head of an
united cabinet. Why, looking at the persons who form
his Aministration, he row( wail something near five years
before he can do it." It is a remarkable coincidence,
that, in four years and eight months from the date of this
prediction, Sir Robert Peel introduced his measure for
the repeal of the corn laws. So well did the Whigs tinder-
stand their man.—F, aser's Mao.
FIRST SIGHT OF S HonsE.---The sensation produced
by the presence of the stringers Lad not in the least sub-
sided at the period of our arrival at the islands. The
natives still fl-cked in numbers about the encampment,
and watched with the liveiest curiosity every thing that
was going forward. A black:mith's forge, which had been
set up in the shelter of the grove near the beach, attracted
so great a crowd, that it required the utmost efforts of the
sentries posted around to keep the inquisitive multitude at
a sufficient distance to allow the workmen to ply their
vocation. But nothing gained so large a share of admira-
tion as a horse, which had been brought from Valparaiso
by the Achilles, one of the vessels of the squadron. The
animal, a remarkably fine one, had been taken ashore,
and stabled in a hut of cocoa-nut boughs within the forti-
fied enclosure. Occasionally it was brought cut, and,
being gaily caparisoned, was ridden by one of the officers
at full speed over a hard sand bench. This performance
was sure to be hailed with loud plaudits, and the " puar-
kee nuee" (big hog) was unanimously pronounced by the -
islanders to be the most extraordinary specimen of
zoology that had ever come under their observation.—
Four Months' Residence in the Marquesas.
FREEMASONRY AND ARCHITECTURE.—Freemasons
had been supposed to exist amongst the Greeks and Ro-
mans. Corporations of architects were established by
Numa, called Collegia Fabrorum, and Coll,gia Artificum.
They had a religious character, and had the right of framing
laws among themselves. Subsequently, they greatly con-
tributed to the extension of the Roman power, and were
invested by the emperors with peculiar privileges. Adrian
attached a corps of architects to the cohorts. At the end
of the eighth century, the masons of Como assumed the
peculiar distinction of Freemasonry; they were greatly
employed in the construction of churches and monasteries,
and after the destruction of the Lombard kingdom by
Charlemange, dispersed themselves over Europe. 1 hey
succeeded in obtaining peculiar privileges from the Pope,
and concealed their knowledge by mysteries. The Free-
m 'sons, probably of Como, were invited to Englund by
Alfred, and subsequently by Athelstan, who gave them a
charter in York, the original of which is said still to exist
in that city. It notices the history of architecture from
hive
e et
the time of Adam, the building if Babel, the Temple of
Solomon ; Hieram, Pythagoras, Euclid, and Vitruvius are
also
u s
t quoted.
b Inn Sir
viewed by C. W-atregi
ewatasarthcheitgercat withn:masetze-r
that in England, but shortly after that period the fraternity
altered its original form and purpose—a clinno.o which
m
treme regret.-7'he Builder.

EASTHAM FERRY.—Mr. Nichol!, the spirited proprie-
tor of the ferry to Eastham, the most romantic and agree_
able holiday place on the Mersey, has started the boats
this summer at a reduction of one third in the fares. Vast
numbers of respectable parties have now an economical
mode of exchanging the thick, unwholesome atmosphere
of this great town for the pure air and invigorating sun-
shine to be found in the green lanes and rambles in the
neighbourhood of Eastham.