The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-03-19 00:00:00

AUTOGRAPHIC RELlCS.—Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkin-
son have been disposing of a-very miscellaneous set of
papers, a portion, we suspect, of Mr. Upcott's.long-con-
cealed stores, with a sprinkling of good things from
another, portfolio. An unpublished letter from Dr. John-
son (address gone) was bought by Mr. Pocock, the great
Johnson collector, for £3 Is. A letter of George Fox,
the founder of the Quakers, signed G.F. only, brought
£3.95. A beautiful letter of Benjamin Franklin's, a
charming illustration of Campbell's line,

With Franklin grasp the lightning's fiery wing,
describing the manner of his discovery, sold for £3 3s.
An interesting letter, (unpublished) of John Howard, the
philanthropist's, sold for £2; and a letter by Penn, the
Quaker, for the same sum. A -letter written by Lord
George Gordon, the hero of the :riots in 1780, sold for
£3 Is. Dr. Johnson's letter was dated 10th December,
1751.

THE DINNER HOUR IN THE .AMERICAN NAVE.—
'The commodore dines alone, because he is the only man
of his rank in the ship. So, too, with the captain ; and
the ward-room officers, warrant officers, midshipmen, the
master-at-arms mess, and the common seamen ;—all .of
them, respectively, dined together, because they are re-
spectively on a footing or equality. * * * Not only
is the dinner table a criterion of rank, but also the dinner
hour. He who dines latest is the greatest man ; and he
who dines earliest is accounted the least. In a flag-ship,
the cornmodoregenerally dines aboutfour or five o'clock;
the captain about three ; the lieutenants about two ;
while the people,(by which the commonseamen are spe-
cially . designated in the nomenclature of the quarter-
deck), sit down to their salt beef exactly.at noon. Some
commodores are very particular in seeing ;to it, that no
man on board the ship dare to dine after his (the com-
modore's) own descert is cleared away. Not even the
captain. It is said, on good authority, that a captain
once ventured to dine at five, when the commodore's
hour was four. Next day, as the story goes, that captain
received a private note; and, in consequence of that note,
dined, for the future, at half-past three.--Melville'
Whiteljacket.
AN IMPERIAL BALL IN HAYTI.—The "imperatrice"
gave a baba/woe/se a.few days ago, and collected all (!)
the distinguished personages that the short notice would
allow, and whom the ,guard could find at the " ducal" or
" baronial residence.—(The gentlemen, were, for theanost
part, discaveradaeated onharrels, smoking rank cigars.)
The imperatrice, after receiving her illustrious guests,
ordered the intendant imperial (or, in vulgar language,
the master of !the ceremonies), to form and open a " care-
bine" (Haitian dance), which was no sooner done than
her imperial majesty's sense of decorum was exeeedinglT
.scandalised by the" dukes" dancing with "countesses"
and " barons" with A' chevaliers!" stating that such was
au infringement on-" court etiquette" which she would
never suffer, so long as le boa _Men allowed her to wear
,the imperial diadem:: The matter having been settled by
the master of the ceremonies (who acquainted her majesty
of the paucity of titled personages), she drowned her grief
in a glass of " liqueur," and indulgedherself and her guests
by dancing a " pas senl," as performed by the "aborigines
of Africa;" but her imperial spouse pointing out the im-
propriety of the act, her Imperial majesty desisted from
what his imperial majesty considered an exploded custom.
Such is the "empire" in which we live ! —Paris paper,
OaInIN OF THE CABINET.7FrOnI an early period the
kings of Zugland had been assisted by a privy council, to
which the law assigned many
.important functions and
duties. During several centurtea this body deliberated
on the gravest and most delicate affairs ; but by degrees
its character changed. It became too large for dispatch
and secresy. The rank of privy councillor was often
bestowed as an honorary distinction on persons to whom
nothing was confided, and whose opinion was never asked.
The sovereign, on the most important occasions, resorted
for advice to a small knot of leading ministers. The
advantages and disadvantages of this course were early
pointed out by Bacon ; but it was not till after the Resto-
ration that the inferior council began to attract general
notice. During many years old-fashioned politicians
continued to regard the cabinet as an unconstitutional
and dangerous board. Nevertheless, it constantly became
more and more important. It at length drew to itself the
chief executive power, and has new been regarded, during
several generations, as an esseitial pert of our polity.
During some years the word Cabal was popularly used as
slnonomous with Cabinet. But it happened by a whim-
sical coincidence that, in 1671, the cabinet consisted of
five persons, the initial letters of whose names made up
the word Cabal--Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham,
Ashley, and Lauderdale.