The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-07-23 00:00:00

COFFEE HOUSES IN DAMASCUS.—llarnascus is cele-
brated for the number and elegance of its coffee-houses;
they are for the most part built in the kiosk fashion, of
wood painted different colours, green and blue predomi-
nating, and open on the sides, except where partially
closed with plants coiling up the slender columns that
support the roof. The softened light that makes its way
through the leafy walls forms a charming contrast with
the intense glare of the sun glancing upon the waters, or
reflected from the whitened walls of the houses of the
town. Nor are they mote remarkable for their pictures-
que appearance than for their happily-chosen position,
being generally situated on the border of some running
stream, the view opening out on a pretty cascade, with
gardens and orchards lying on the opposite bank. At
night, when the limps. suspended from the slender
pillars, are lighted, the Turks of different ranks, in all the
varieties of their rich costume, cover the platform, just
above the surface of the river, on which and its foaming
cataracts the moonlight rests, and the sound of music is
heard, you fancy that if ever the enchantments of eastern
romance are to be realised, it is here.
THE OPIUM QUESTION IN CHlNA.—Memorials were
presented to the emperor on both sides of the question :
and his majesty Taouk-wang. being old, and personally of
feeble character, halted for a time "between the opinions,"
alternately yielding both to the one and the other, until
he at length settled down into the old bigotry against
change, and felt all the native prejudices of a true son of
Han revive more strongly than ever within his bosom.
* The question of the opium trade, or opium-
laws, which, for some time. had been really a party
matter, like the corn-laws in our own country, became at
length a question of interest and importance to the whole
nation, and was magnified in its relations by the very dis-
cussion of the points which it involved. It is said that
the head of the reformer party (if it can so be called) in
China was a Tartar lady, belonging to the emperor's
court, remarkable for her abilities no less than her personal
attractions, and possessed of certain very strong points of
character, which made her as much feared by some as she
was loved by others. She was soon raised even to the
throne itself, as the emperor's wife, but lived only a few
years to enjoy her power. Her influence soon came to be
felt throughont the whole of that vast empire : it was the
means of rewarding talent, and of detecting inability. She
seemed to possess, in a marked degree, that intuitive dis-
cernment which sometimes bursts upon the female mind
as if by inspiration. She was blessed with a tone and
energy of character in advance of her age and of her
country. She had many grateful friends, but she Lad
raised up for herself many bitter enemies; party feeling
ran high, and became at length too powerful even for an
empress. Gradually her influence diminished : the favour
of the emperor declined, her opponents again got the
upper hand, and at length she pined away under the effects
of disappointment and perhaps injustice, and died. But
her influence, so long as it lasted, was unbounded, and
was felt through every province. Her principal adherents
and dependents naturally lost their power when that of
their mistress was gone. The question of more extended
trade with foreigners was now again set aside ; the old
feelings of bigotry and national pride resumed even more
than their former vigour. Opium at once became the in-
strument, but ostensibly patriotism became the ground-
work of their measures. The old national feeling against
foreigners throughout the empire was revived ; and, in the
midst of it all, as if ordained to hasten on the momentous
crisis which waited for its fulfilment, the son of the em-
peror himself died in his very palace, from the effects of
the excessive use of opium.—Voyage of the Nemeis.
IMPROVED SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT.—The Euro-
pean, by which we more particularly mean the native of
Great Britain, may not change his soul with his skies, but
his manners assuredly undergo, in India, a remarkable
metamorphosis. Accustomed in youth to habits of obe-
dience to authority, deference to superiors, and civility to
equals, he cannot support with becoming equanimity the
comparatively elevated position in which be finds himself
placed. Invested at once with difficulty, or treated by
his personal domestics, and the traders with whom he
may traffic, with abject humility, he naturally conceives
a much higher opinion of his own merits than he ever en-
tertained before, and hence is begotton an overweening
amour propre, which thenceforth, more or less, influences
his character through life. With this difference, however,
and the adoption of a costume and habits peculiar to the
climate, the European is much the same as we find him
elsewhere. Energetic and active, courageous and specu-
lative, he performs the duties intrusted to him, or carries
out his own plans of personal advantage, in a manner
which excites the admiration and confidence of the people
around him, and serves the country of his adoption. He
is the upright and inflexible judge, the brave and adven-
turous soldier, the dauntless and skilful navigator, and the
calculating and enterprising merchant. Even his pastimes
partake of the loftiness of his character, for he fearlessly
encounters the tiger in his lair, does battle with the wild
boar, the bison, and even the untamed elephant, and,
" witching the world with noble" equitation, ardently en-
courages every pursuit that serves to improve the horse,
and render him more serviceable to the purposes of man.
All that the Englishman might do, or might have done,
for the benefit and advancement of the people who have
fallen under British rule, has not, however, been accom-
plished. For more than one half of the period of our do-
minion, the natives were treated as a people who existed
only as rninstrants to temporary British interests; we
drained the country of its wealth, and offered no compen-
sation for the heavy appropriation. But a better spirit
has arisen of late years, and a sound and liberal policy is
gradually taking the place of the narrow system of govern-
ment which erst rendered British rule in the East a bye-
word and reproach. The lights of European science are
spreading themselves over the Eastern world. Colleges
and schools upon a considerable scale are established at
all the great towns; offices of trust are rendered accessi-
ble to the intelligent and the upright native ; Englishmen
have unlimited permission to settle in the towns and agri-
cultural districts, and introduce improvements in machi-
nery and culture ; the science of medicine is freely taught,
and the qualified practitioner in the healing art distributed
over the country. But we have elsewhere touched on
these matters already, and need not allude to them here,
further than to express a hope that es ery man whose for-
tune
may carry him to India will consider it personally
incumbent upon him to return, in some degree, the hless-
ings of ease and competence, which the residence in the
country may ultimately confer upon him, by an endeavour
to improve the condition of its interesting population.—
Stocqueler's

THE DESCENT OF THE PRECIPICE.—By this time I
had grasped the chain firmly with both hands, and with
the resolve of one who felt life depend on his own firm-
ness, I began the descent. The old man's voice, as he
muttered a prayer for my safety, grew fainter and fainter,
till at length it ceased to reach my ears altogether. Then
for the first time did my heart sink within me. The words
of one human being, faint and broken by distance, sug-
gested a sense of sympathy, which nerved my courage and
braced my arm i • but the dreary silence that followed, only
broken by the booming of the sea below, was awful beyond
measure. Hand below hand I went, the space seeming
never to lessen, as I strained my eyes to catch the cliff
where the first rope ended. Time, as in some fearful
dream, seemed protracted to years long; and I already
anticipated the moment when, my strength failing, my
hands would relinquish their hold, and I should be dashed
upon the dark rocks below. The very sea-birds which I
startled in my descent, wheeled round my head, piercing
the air with their shrill cries, and as if impatient for a
prey. Above my head, the frowning cliff beetled darkly;
below, a depth unfathomable seemed to stretch, from
whose black abyss arose the wild sounds of beating waves.
More than once, too, I thought that the rope had given
way above, and that I was actually falling through the air,
and held my breath in horror ; then, again, the idea
flashed upon me that death inevitable awaited me, and I
fancied in the singing billows I could hear the wild shouts
of demons rejoicing over my doom. Through all these
maddening visions, the instinct to preserve my life held
its strong sway, and I clutched the knotted rope with the
eager grasp of a drowning man, when suddenly I felt my
foot strike a rock beneath, and then discovered I was on
the cliff of which the sailor had told me. In a few seconds
the sense of security imparted a thrill of pleasure to my
heart, and 1 uttered a prayer of thankfulness for my
safety ; but the fearful conviction of greater danger as
suddenly succeeded. The rope I had so long trusted ter-
minated here: the end hung listlessly on the rock ; and
from thence to the brow of the cliff nothing remained to
afford a grip, save the short moss and the dried ferns,
withered with the sun. The surface of this frightful ledge
sloped rapidly towards the edge, where was the rock
around which the rope was tied. Fatigued by my pre-
vious exertion, I sat down on that moss-grown cliff, and
gazed out upon the sea, along which the cutter came,
proudly dashing the spray from her bows, and bending
gracefully with every wave. She was standing fearlessly
in, for the wind was off the land ; and, as she swept
along, I could have fancied her directly beneath my very
feet. Arousing myself from the momentary stupor of my
faculties, I began to creep down the cliff ; but so slippery
had the verdure become by the heat, that I could barely
sustain myself by grasping the very earth by my fingers.
A loud " Holloa !" was shouted from the craft, and arose
in many an echo around me. I tried to reply, but could
not. A second cheer saluted me, but I did nut endeavour
to answer it. The moment was full of peril: I had come
to the last spot which offered a hold, and below me, at
some feet, lay the rock, hanging, as it were, over the pre-
cipice. It seemed to me as though a sea-bird's weight
might have sent it thundering into the depth beneath.
The moon was on it, and 1 could see the rope coiled
twice around it, and knotted carefully. What would I
have given in that terrible minute for one tuft of grass,
one slender bough, even enough to have sustained my
weight for a second or two, until I should grasp the cord !
But none was there. A louder cry from the cutter now
rang in my ears, and the dreadful thought of destruction
now flashed on me. I fixed my eyes on the rock to mea-
sure the place, and then, turning with my face towards the
cliff, 1 suffered myself to slip downwards. At first I went
slowly, then faster and faster. At last my legs passed
over the brow of the precipice. I was falling ! My head
reeled. I uttered a cry, and, in an agony of despair,
threw out my hands. They caught the rope. Knot after
knot slipped past my fingers in the descent ere my senses
became sufficiently clear to know what was occurring;
but even then, the instinct of self-preservation was
stronger than reason, for I afterwards learned from the
boat's crew with what skill I guided myself along the face
of the cliff, avoiding every difficulty of the jaggeedlirm
climber.
and tracking my way like the most experienced
stoodfloam w
eupon d
aas
hbirnoga.d flato rnoocwk overlove whichloved
n
bright water, on
on my feet ! I could have kissed tehe
moment of danger
was passed. The shadow of
which the moonbeams sported, for tdh
I. The dangers of the
that toiled and fretted about me
from my soul. What cared
that I escaped from, and when
deep were as nothing to dreadful death had moved
e
I
drnoenw for the boiling surf
se whitet
em sheets
eurl curling
towards her on a retreating in, I dashed towa wave, and was
dragged on board almost from my struggles.
, lifeless
--
notthe tho cutter's
oft-repeated boat e ame
warnings
e towards
sailors,
plunging minded
Tom Burke of " Ours.