The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-11-21 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

decanters: Balancing himself on his hand on the top of
the decanters is an extraordinary proof of equitation. He
has great power in his thighs, and has a pleasing manner.
Madlle. Paul is a pleasing and interesting equestrian, and
dances the " Cacucha" with much grace. Young Nief
exhibits on the bare-backed steed. He is an uncommonly
talenled young man, and his concluding performance of
balancioing himself on the hind quarters of the horse
at full speed is remarkable. Madlle. Mathilde is se-
cond to none but Caroline in the high school of
riding. Her style is lady-like, and appears in the hand-
some costume of the French " Amazone" riding-habit.
She offers a perfect model to our female equest;ans.
The performances continue to be enlivened by M.
Auriols, sen. and jun., Mons. L'Eclair, and Mehemet,
the latter of whom is a surprising fellow. It will be seen
that as the corn pany's stay in Liverpool is now drawing to
a close, and, for the accommodation of families, a few
morning performances will be given on Tuesdays and
Fridays, the second of which takes place to-day.

SUICIDE UNDER REMARKABLE eIRCUMSTANCES.—On
Thursday morning, a suicide of a singular nature was dis-
cOvered to have been committed in an inn, in this town.
The deceased was named Edward A. Ray wont, and is
supposed to have respectable connections in London. He
had for some time been an inmate of the Waterloo Hotel.
On the 3d instant several articles of gentleman's clothing
were missed from a room in the hotel adjacent to de-
ceased's bedroom, and, suspicion falling upon him, the
police were instructed to observe his motions. He was
traced as having frequently been at a house in Pleasant-
street, tenanted by a Miss Harris, to one of whose lodgers,
Miss Mary Ann Byrom, he was in the habit of paying
particular attention. He was not there, and the females
named stated that they supposed he had gone to London.
It afterwards appeared that he had gone to the George
Hotel, in Dale-street, aoout 12 o'clock on Wednesday
night and asked for a bed. His manner excited some at-
tention, but he was accommodated, and retired to bed.
Not making his appearance in reasonable time in the
morning, and his door being fast, two police-officers were
called, and, on forcing their way in, they found him hang-
ing by the neck, by a scarf fixed to a small hook in the
wall. It was evident he had stood on the dressing table
and thrown it from under him. He feet were about two
feet from the floor. He was taken down instantly, but
life was extinct. At an early hour on the night on which
he committed the act, deceased had called at Miss Harris's
house and wrote to Miss Byrom, on a scrap of paper, and
in an indifferent hand, as follows :—" Grieved am I that I
should not see von once more before dying. When you
receive this I am no more, but my remains will be found
at the George Hotel. Do not ask me why. Fortune,
friends, and mistress,—all are gone, yet I bless thee while
dying.—Edward." On the back of the note was written,
—" Don't open this note till to-morrow morning. To
my Polly."—The deceased, it is supposed, must have
been in the habit of taking laudanum, as three or four
ounces of that narcotic were found in a bottle in his bed-
room. Another bottle containing a smaller quantity of
the same poison was also found. The inquest was held on
Friday. Mr. Lynn, of the Waterloo, stated that deceased
had there contracted a debt of about £2O. Deceased had
stated that he was heavily involved in stock transactions.
Miss Harris confirmed the statement that he had paid
his addresses to Miss Byrom. Miss Byrom, agood-look-
ing woman of small stature, said deceased and she had
kept company together, and that for the last few weeks he
had appeared much depressed in spirits, having, as he
said, lost a- great deal of money in London. She saw
him last alive on Sunday night, when he appeared to be
still more desponding. He was in the habit of taking
laudanum. Upon receiving the above note she took it to
tho Police-office. A constable said he received the
note, and thinking the writer was the person he was in
se-arch of, he went to the George Hotel, and forced open
the deceased's bed-room door at two in the morning. De-
ceased appeared much excited, and endeavoured to keep
possession of the two bottles of laudanum, but the officer
took them from him, and left him about four o'clock, when
he appeared in a quiet state of mind. At eight (as stated)
he was found dead. The coroner reprimanded Ellis, the
officer, for having entered the room of deceased in the un-
warrantable manner he bad done. The jury returned a
verdict of temporary insanity.

SCRIPTURE CHRONOLOGY OF THE WORLD.—The pre-
ent month's number of Revelation Readings, edited
by the Rev. A. Dallas, contains an important chronolo-
gical table, compiled with careful accuracy from the
Scripture record of events which have occurred from time
to time since the world began. The table shows clearly
that the age of the world is at least 5976 years, and the
object of it is to prove, from the lowest calculation of
express durations assigned in the Bible to separate and
successive scriptural facts, that 3592 years from the crea-
tion of man had elapsed at the termination of the Baby-
lonish Captivity ; to which, if we admit the usually re-
ceived computation of 536 years to the birth of Jesus
Christ, and thence of 1848 to the present day, we find
that, while there may have been more, there certainly
have not been less than 5976 years since the creation,
bringing us now within 24 years of the end of the Sixth
Millenary. The subject is especially interesting to those
who believe that the eternal sabbath of rest, commonly
called the Millenium, commences at the seven thousandth
year.
EMIGRATION AS A MEASURE OF RELIEF.—One of the
most solid and careful statisticians of the present day
computes the amount of persons living by theft and in
idleness and want at upwards of 150,000 in the United
Kingdom. Now we hold this is not an exaggerated state-
ment of the social condition of Great Britain and Ireland.
Rather, indeed, is it the reverse, and yet the government
is silent and inactive, although.at the same time the State
has at its command upwards of 88,000,000 of acres of
lam] within a few hours' sail of London. The vacant
Crown lands in Nova Scotia are estimated at 5,787,772
acres ; 12,300,851 in New Brunswick ; 1,000,000 in Prince
Edward's island and Cape Breton ; and in Canada,
70,000,000. Again, turn to British America, with its
wild wastes, uncleared forests, and almost untrodden
tracts of land. Why, within that continent alone we
have unoccupied Crown lands amounting to upwards of
200,000,000 of acres. And we find ministers, meanwhile,
afect perplexity, as to how best to relieve the misery,
destitution, and poverty of the mass of Great Britain.
We say affect perplexity, because, with the numerous
evidences of the advantages to be derived from coloniza-
tion, lying neglected in the Colonial Office, and to be de-
rived from our own knowledge and experience, it would
be paying their skill and sagacity a poor compliment did
we hint at their being ignorant onthe subject.—The Emi-
grant. •
THE LANCASHIRE WEAVERS—MATHEMATICIANS
AND BOTANISTS.—There is a class of men in Manches-
ter, unknown even to many of the inhabitants, and whose
existence will probably be doubted by many, who yet may
claim kindred with all the noble names that science re-
cognises. I said "in Manchester," but they are scat-
tered all over the manufacturing districts of Lancashire.
In the neighbourhood of Oldham there are weavers, com-
mon hand loom weavers, who throw the shuttle with un-
ceasing sound, though Newton's " Principia" lie open
on the loom, to be snatched at in work hours, but revelled
over in meal times, or at night. Mathematical problems
are received with interest, and studied with absorbing
attention by many a broad-spoken, common-looking
factory hand. It is perhaps less astonishing that the
more popularly interesting branches of natural history
have their warm and devoted followers among this class.
There are botanists among them, equally familiar with
either the Linnwean or the natural system, who know the
name and habitat of every plant within a day's walk from
their dwellings ; who steal the holiday of a day or two
when any particular plant should be in flower, and
tying up their simple food in their pocket handker-
chiefs, set off with single purpose to fetch home the
humble-looking weed. There are entomologists, who
may be seen with a rude-looking net, ready to catch
any winged insect, or a kind of dredge, with which
they rake the green and slimy pools ; practical, shrewd,
hard-working men, who pore over every new specimen
with real scientific delight. Nor is it the common and
more obvious divisions of entomology and botany that
alone attract these earnest seekers after knowledge. Per—
lisps it may be owing to the great annual town-holiday of
Witsunweek so often falling in May or June that the two
great, beautiful families of Ephemerithe and Phryganithe
have been so much and so closely studied by Manchester
workmen, while they have in a great measure escaped
general observation. If you will refer to the preface to
Sir J. E. Smith's Life (I have it not by me, or I would
copy you the exact passage), you will find that he names a
little circumstance corroborative of what I have said. Sir
J. E. Smith, being on -a visit to Roscoe, of Liverpool,
made some inquiries from him as to the habitat of a very
rare plant, said to be found in certain places in Lanca-
shire. Mr. Roscoe knew nothing of the plant; but stated,
that if any one could give him the desired inforination, it
would be a hand-loom weaver in Manchester, whom he
named. Sir J. E. Smith proceeded by coach to Manches-
ter, and on arriving at that town he inquired of the porter
who was carrying his luggage if he could direct him to
So-and-So. " Oh, yes," replied the man. "he does a
bit in my way ;" and, on further investigation, it turned
out that both the porter, and his friend the weaver, were
skilful botanists, and able to give Sir J. E. Smith the very
information which he wanted. Such are the tastes and
pursuits of some of the thoughtful, little understood,
working men of Manchester.—Mary Bur!on, a Tale of
Manchester-Life.
RATHER, EXPLICIT.—At the last Wisbech Statute the
following conversation was overheard between two natives
of the neighbouring county of Norfolk, who had come to
try for places at the Statute :—" What ! ha' you left your
old master, Jack ?" " Well, ah bor, that I have."'
s` Why you must ha' lived there a 'mazing long while."'
" I should think I have, and all." " Why how long ha'
you lived there ?" " Let me see ; I'll soon tell you.
Can you remember that bor Charley being born ?" " I
should think I can." " Well, that's the year I went
there." " Why, how long is that ago." "Do you re-
member that fiftin acre being wheat ?" "DoI, ah
" That's the first year I went there. Well, now that's
bin awts twice, barley three times, and wheat once, and
now it's wheat agin ; so i'll leave you to guess how long
it is."

STROLLING BEGGARS.—The beggars of whom we read
in Scripture lived in the place or neighbourhood where
they asked alms, and so were known to be real objects of
charity ; they also gave a kind .of nledge for their good
behaviour. This widely differs from the modern case of
strolling beggars, who are frequently imposters, and still
more generally profligate characters. Except in extraor-
dinary cases, it is in all respects most advisable to relieve
those who are known by us both as to their wants and
conduct, and provided less be not given in charity, and
no extreme case neglected, the refusal of relief to vagrant
beggars is rather a proof of discretion, than an indication
of defect in beneficence. If this conduct were generally
adopted, the indigent would, in ordinary cases, be com-
pelled to abide where they are known ; the sums expended
in charity would be far more profitably employed; the
interests of morality and religion would be better secured ;
and the poor themselves would be tar more adequately
relieved.—Scott's Commentary,

HOLYDAXS, ETC.

23d Sund. aft. Trinity