The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-10-06 00:00:00

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRD

Dombey sat in the corner of the darkened room in the
great arm-chair by the bedside, and Son lay tucked up
warm in a little basket bedstead, carefully dispcsed on a
low settee immediately in front of the fire and close to it,
as if h's constitution were analogous to that of a muffin,
and it was essential to toast him brown while he was very
new.

Dombey was about eight-and-forty years of age. Son
about eight-and-fqty minutes. Dombey was rather bald,
rather red, and though a handsome well-made min, too
stern and pompous in appearance to be prepos
Son wis very bald, and very red, and though (of course)
an undeniable fine infant, somewhat crushed and spotty
in his general effect, as yet. On the brow of Dombey,
Time and his brother Care had set some marks, as on a
tree that was to come down in good time—remorseless
twin they are for striding through their human forests,
no•ching as they go—while the countenance of Son was
crossed and recrossed with a thousand little creases, which
the same deceitful Time would take delight in smoothing
out and wearing away with the flat part of his scythe, as
a preparation of the surface for his deeper operations.
Dombev, exulting in the long-looked for event, jingled
and jingled the heavy watch-chain that depended from
below his trim blue coat, whereof the buttons sparkled
phosphorescently in the feeble rays of the distant fire.
Son with his little fists curled up and clenched, seemed,
in his feeble way, to be squaring at existence for having
come upon him so unexpectedly.
"The house will once again, Mrs. Dombev," said Mr.
Dombey, •' be not only in name but in fact Dombey and
Son ; Dom-bey and Son !"

PROFESSIONAL QUACKERY

Doctor Parker Peps, one of the Court Physicians, and
a man of immense reputation for assisting at the increase
of great families, was walking up and down the drawing-
room with his hands behind him, to the unspeakable ad-
miration of the family surgeon, who had regularly puffed
the case for the last six weeks among all his patients,
friends, and acquaintances, as one to which he was in
hourly expectation day and night of being summoned, in
conjunction with Doctor Parker Peps.
" Well, Sir," said Doctor Parker Peps, in a round,
deep, sonorous voice, muffled for the occasion, like the
knocker ; " do you find that your dear lady is at ali roused
by your visit ?"
" Stimulated, as it were ?" said the family practitioner,
faintly, bowing at the same time to the Doctor, as much
as to say, " Excuse my putting in a word, but this is a
valuable connexion."

Mr. Dombey was quite discomfited by the question.
He had thought so little of the patient, that he was not i❑
a condition to answer it. He said that it wouhl be a sa-
tisfaction to him if Doctor Parker Peps would walk up
stairs again.

"Good ! We must not disguise from you, sir," said
Doctor Parker Peps, " that there is a want of power in
Her Grace the Duchess—l beg your pardon; I confound
names; I should say in your amiable lady. That there is
a certain degree of languor, and a general absence of elas-
ticity, which we would rather--not—"

" See," interposed the family practitioner, with another
inclination of the head.

" Quite so," said Doctor Parker Peps, " which we
would rather not see. It would appear that the system of
Lady Cankaby—excuse me: I should say of Mrs. Dom-
bey : I confuse the names of cases—"

" So very numerous," murmured the family practitioner
—" can't be expected I'm sure--quite wonderful if other-
wise—Doctor Parker Peps's West End practice—"
" Thank you," said the Doctor, " quite so. It would
appear, I was observing, that the system of our patient
has sustained a shock, from which it can only hope to
rally by a great and strong—"
"And vigorous," murmured the famly practitioner.
" Quite so," assented the Doctor—" and vigorous ef-
fort. Mr. Pilkins, here, who from his position of medical
adviser in this family—no one better qualified to fill that

position, I am sure."
"Oh !" murmured the family practitioner. " Praise
from Sir Hubert Stanley !'"
" You are good enough," returned Doctor Parker Peps,
"to say so. Mr. Pilkins, who, from his position, is best
acquainted with the patient's constitution, in its normal
state (an acquaintance very valuable to us in forming our
opinions on these occasions), is of opinion with me, that
nature must be called upon to make a vigorous effort in
this instance; and that, if our interesting friend the
Countess of Dombey—l beg your pardon ; Mrs. Dombey
—should not be—"
" Able," said the family practitioner.
"To make that effort successfully," said Doctor Parker
" then a crisis might arise, which we should both
sincerely deplore."
With that, they stood for a few seconds looking at the
ground. Then, on the motion—made in dumb show—of
Doctor Parker Peps, they went up stairs ; the family
practitioner opening the room door for that distinguished
professional, and following him out with most obsequious
politeness.

MR. WAKLEY'S PERSEVERANCE AND STYLE

OF SPEAKING.
(From Fraser's Magazine.)

An amusing instance of Mr. Waidey's determined per-

which has just closed. All the public business had been
disposed of ; the paper containing the notices of the pro-
ceedings for the day was, with one exception, a blank ;
and but f'w members were present in the house. Among
them were the Home Secretary and his underlines, and a
few members notorious for their approval of the Poor-
law. Sir George Grey was observed, every now and then,
to turn an anxious eye to the green door, evidently hoping
that some one would or would not make his appearance.
The explanation was found in the notice-paper. The one

case of the ilaydock Lodge Lunatic Asylum. This was
the shadow that darkened their fair prospect of a holiday.
But Mr. Wakiey might be persuaded or cajoled into giv-
ing way, or he might not come; and so the threatened
exposure, which the government had reason to dread,
might not be made. At length in came Mr. Wakley, who
strode up to his seat with an awful air of determination.

they get but a passing glimpse of the obelisk of Cleopa- Now the play began. First some personal friend of th,
tra, and Pompey's majestic pillar, with its nearly defaced hon. member, and supporter of the Poor-law, began talk-
Greek inscription. At Anchiale was once seen this in- ing to him in a fr'endly way, urging how inconvenient it
scription upon the tomb of Sardanapalus, which king, with would be thus, at the very last gasp of the session, to
his luxuriant magnificence, called forth the genius of our bring forward a long series of charges. But Mr. Wakley
Byron,—" Sardinapalus built Anchiale and Tarens in one only shook his head and knit his brows, folding his arms
day; go, traveller, eat, drink, and be merry, the rest is with a sly smile, as much as to say, No, it won't do.
nothing." Ihe catacombs of Syracuse are full of recesses This shot having missed, Sir George Grey went across to
and chambers, with a flat circular roof and opening to the immovable tribune, and, with the blandest air of aris-
admit light at the top. In Malta they are cut out of the tocratic condescension, put to him how extremely outW
rock in galleries; and in Syria and Palestine massive stone would be his threatened proceeding; that there was
doors, moving on pivots, close in the dead. Various also scarcely a house to listen to him ; that the country would
are the opinions of the learned regarding the Pyramids of overlook the case ; that the doors of the Home-office
Egypt. It is certain that they have contained sarcophagi. would be open to him ; that'every justice should be done,
Herodotus thought the form emblematical of human life, and so on : but it was of no avail. Even Sir James Gra-
certain it is the pyramidal shape is best calculated for dam could not have succeeded. Then how much less Sir
length of duration ; some have thought them to be erected George Grey ! The honourable member was still obdu-
for astronomical purposes, while some French philoso- rate. Another scheme was then tried. A message came
pliers have been of of opinion they are mere standards of down from the House of Lords, demanding a conference.
measure. Denon favoured the latter opinion, while Vol- It was the Home Secretary's duty to name the members.
ney thought the ancient Egyptians acquainted with elec. When the list was read, it was observable that the Speaker
tricity, and that as Egypt suffered from drought, and as pronounced the name of Mr. Wakley with peculiar em-
immense masses of vapours pass from the Mediterranean phasis and unction ; for he, too, would not have been
to the mountains of Abyssinia, these gigantic artificial sorry had the honourable member relented. One by one
mountains might interrupt their passage, and cause rain the members went up to the Lords, Sir George Grey
to descend upon the parched plains. The conjecture himsef at their head ; but Mr. Wakley, who seemed irate
might in some degree receive sanction from the immense j at what he supposed a manoeuvre to defeat his object,
figure of the Sphinx, which not being a commemorative flatly refused to stir. Ile was afraid lest in his absence
monument, more connected with the rites of sepulture, some scheme should be devised to defeat him. Folding
was probably intended to denote the two signs of the Zo- his arms, he stretched himself at full length on his seat,
diac, the Virgin and the Lion, through which the Sun saying, in reply to calls on him to go, " No, no, I shall
passes during the innundation of the Nile. lose my chance !" And there he remained obdurate,
But among all the various modes of sepulture I have alike to the tetchy remonstrances of the Home Secretary
witnessed abroad, perhaps next to the almost unimpaired and the earnest pleading of his friends. Constituted as
grandeur of the Egyptian Pyramids and catacombs should the House of Commons is, it required no ordinary amount
be considered the Etruscan sepulchres hewn out of a rock, of moral courage thus to persist in the discharge of a
which are seen only by torch light, outside the walls of troublesome and self-imposed duty. At last he rose and
Voltera. Here, in this rock, closed in by a single slab of made a speech of several hours' duration, full of extraor-
stone at the narrow entrance, with a pillar of the natural, dinary details, and his reward came in due time when the
rock left standing in the centre, you see three tiers of sar- newspaper reports appeared, and it was found that he had
cophagi, composed of alabaster, marble, and stone, all given a last kick to the Poor-law Commission. A man
with rudely carved, but bold figures of the deceased, de- with such perseverance in a cause where the credit is °fun
scribing his profession, or her loving, amiable and mater- in inverse ratio to the trouble, must succeed, and deserves
nal quality. The poet is gracefully reclining, with his el. to do so.
bow leaning on a pile of books; the lawyer and senator Mr. Wakley's style of speaking is the most simple and
pleading, with divers other alegorical and illustrative de- unaffected. lie has been too busily engaged in the hard
signs. In these rich, but externally unnoticeable and work of life to have had much time to bestow on oratory.
humble burial caves, the Etruscans' last hi,torical teonu- He has the appearance of a provincial, and has also the
meats escaped the ravages of the haughty Romans, who accent of one ; the associations thus excited still further
little knew, as they strode over the subjugated soil of I negative the idea of polish or preparation. You might
their more humble predecessors, the monumental trea- i fancy, but for the knowledge of passing events, not less
sures that were tranquilly reposing beneath their warlike than of subjects of higher order, which his speeches dis-
and world conquering tread. It is something to have play, that he was some country farmer suddenly smitten
been at the top of that—the loftiest pyramid—to have with a passion for speech-making. The structure of his
gazed from the top of St. Peter's upon the vast Campagna speeches is quite inartificial, and the language usually the
where the tombs of Crecilia, Metellu of Plautus, the E most simple and colloquial of every-day life. It is plain,
ratii and Curatii, and a number of other vast sepulchral even homely, without being inelegant ; a manliness of
monuments, stand in their lovely grandeur, like giant I sentiment and a quiet self-possession in the speaker, im-
skeletons of a departed world ; but you cannot gaze on part a kind of distsity to the most ordinary expressions.
the tomb of Nero, the pyramidal monument to Caius Mr. Wakley does not so much make speeches, as deliver
Cestius so near the strangers' burial ground, where Shelly I the thoughts which burden his mind on any given subject,
and Keats, with so many other noble English, take their with frankness and sincerity. EMI hard words do not
last rest in a foreign soil, without feelings of awe and hu- come offensively from him, such is his good-humour and
mility, and how little our modes of perpetuating a recut- I the amenity of his disposition. Ile, constantly displays
lection of the venerated dead, compared with these, lip- ; great shrewdness of perception, unmasking the motives
pear in our churches and churchyards. It is a subject of 'of opponents with a masterly power, and, at the same
congratulation that the custom of interment in Christian time, with an avoidance of coarse imputation. Yet he
churches, which began in the fourth century, by deposit- can be sarcastic when he chooses ; but his sarcasm is
ing the clergy there, is now falling, happily, into disue- more in the hint conveyed, and in the knowing look of
tude ; and it is a consummation devoutly to be wished, i face and tone of voice, than in any positively cutting ex-
that our churchyards may, like that remarkable and pie- i pressions. He handles the scalpel with delicacy and skill,
turesque one of Dartford, in Kent, be made yet more never cutting deeper than is absolutely necessary. Some
beautiful and solemn, by planting cypress and other trees, of his " points" have, from time to time, told remarkably
laying out walks, fixing seats, erecting monuments, like well ; such, for instance, as that in which he described
those of Pere le chaise, Kensal Green, St. James's at Li- the Whig ministry as being made of " squeezable " ma-
verpool, and the new cemetery at Gravesend, and many iterials. That one expression contributed considerably
others. This is by far the preferable mode, than that our towards gaining for him the position he holds in the esti-
deceased friends should lie incold obstruction and to rot mation of the House of Commons.
within the walls of populated cathedrals and churches, a i Upon the whole, Mr. Wakley contrasts favourably
most unhealthy mingling of the quick with the dead. ' with his colleague in the representation of Finsbury. At
Never shall I forget the impression felt at visiting the first sight he is not so captivating or prepossessing as Mr.
grand sublime cemetery, without the walls of Belogna, the Duncornbe, but he has more sterling stuff in him, and is,
Campo Santa at Pisa, and the last resting place of Smol- in all probability, more to be depended upon. Appear-
lett in the interesing necropolis at Leghorn—reqviescant ances are against him ; they are in Mr. Duncombe's fa-
vour.in pace.
one may be allowed the term,—an innne ,nt expression of

EPIGRAM.

a rm. Je_
countenance : the former has a peculiar habit of contract-
ing the eye-brows ; and a keen and restless eye and peer-
ing expression set you at first on your guard as against a
scheming, designing man, not overburdened with scruples
or with the milk of human kindness. But the longer Mr.
Duncombe speaks, the less strong is the prestige in his
favour, the more suspicious you grow that he is careless
of everything except personal display and producing an
effect. Mr. Wakley, on the other band, wins on you as
he proceeds. The frown relaxes ; the face, which had
been too pale for an earnest man, recovers its colour, and
a good-humour or an evident sincerity propitiate favour
and confidence. As has already been said, Mr. Wakley

The following epigram in Latin and English was corn -
Warden
of by the Rev. Charles, Wordsworth, M.A.,
of Trinity College, Perthshire, on the occasion of laying
the foundation stone of the chapel by Sir John Gladstone :
Mactus honore novo, proprio cognomine lretus
Fundamenta domfls Virque Lapis que jacit.
Quem Leetus lapis apse jacit, lapis auspice Imtus
Stet, stet, in mteruum mactus honore novo.
In honours new for high deserts arrayed,
Gladstone, auspicious name, this basement laid.
Glad stone, laid here by Gladstone's bounteous hand,
Still blest with honours new, for ever—ever stand !

rather takes up questions for their own sake, Mr. Dun-
combe for his own. With the latter it is all holiday work
and fun : Chartism is a capital stake to gamble with.
True, he sometimes sails rather close to the wind, bat
there is pleasure in the risk : it is like yachting in rough
weather; tl.e excitement balances the danger. But with
Mr. \Vakley, grievance-bunting is a very serious business.
It is the occupation of his life. As his time is very valu-
able, he might do better with it than bestow it on the
public; yet he works away harder than ever. He cer-
tainly makes greater sacrifices than Mr. Duncombe, if
he does not win quite as much ephemeral applause, or
obtain it quite as easily. It may he urred that his patri-
otism is all prospective; at least, however, he pays down
a heavy deposit. Upon the whole, tar), he has done much
good, if, in the course of his career, he has also caused
some evil. The errors of the Lancet, and the occasional
violences of an enterprising demagogue determined to rise
in the world, may be forgiven in the man who has done
so much to unmask the minor tyrannies which oppress
the pauper population of this country.

A SCENE AT A GOVERNOR'S BALL

A nice tale is told bow a member of the legislature of
Washington showed himself to be quite au fait in high
life in the great republic. We say nothing about the
richness of the scene generally, a most graphic account of
which is, I- owever, given in the New York Spirit of tit
Times. The following is a goad extract:—

" Hark ! the clatter of knives and forks is interrupted
by the cry of 1 Waiter ! eh ! here, here boy—you feller—
give us some of that ere pudding.'
Dis here, Bar, am not pudding—it am de werr-,
werry best of cream,' replied the sable attendant.
' Well, niver mind,' said the gentleman, just give
some of it ;' whereupon helping himself to a plate full, and
not finding a small spoon handy, or thinking it would
take too much time, he put a tablespoon in requisition to
facilitate despatch.

The first spoonful was enough. Twisting and turning
the cream from one side of his mouth to the other, yet
still finding the cold undiminished, he resolved to try the
dernier resort of ejecting it on the carpet.
Look here.' exclaimed he to the waiter, ' just place
this on the stove and get it warm, it is too d—d cold!
You'll get all my teeth aching like the devil, and I should
not wonder if I had a swelld face—a pretty condition
that would be to speak on the Oregon question, to-
morrow.'

Why, sar, dat am ice cream !
Put it on the stove and get it warm, I tell you

No sooner said than done; the plate was put on the
stove, which was heated as they well know how to do it
when the quicksilver on the thermometer indicates its
neighbourhood:o zero, and there left by the astonished
black. After some minutes had elapsed, sambo was
suon-ned to fetch ' that ere plate.'
Why that aint what 1 gave you,' saluted the ears of
the confounded waiter.
Yes, sar, that um de cream,' replied he, as well as his
bewildered faculties would let him.

' You be darned !—I gave you pudding, I did'nt give
you cream nor custard. Where's that ar plate I gave
you fust ?'

' Dat am the very identical plate as you had the honor
of handing me in the first place, sar,' replied poor sambo.
You git along, you son of darkness;' but so uncon-
trolable was the laughter, that no satisfactory explanation
was given the worthy member from 0-."

SPO RTING .1N TEL LIG ENCT

CHESTER AUTUMN MEETING

THURSDAY

There was a tolerably numerous company. The first
race was the Hootod Stake, which was won lov Mr. Tem-
pest nas Lucy, beating perpetual Motion and British Tar.
Won easy.
The Grand Stand Stake was won by Mr. Mostyn's f by
Lanercost—L'Hirondelle beating c by D'Egville and Cha-
peau Rouge. Won by half a length.
The Saracen's Head Handicap was won by Mr. W.
Scott's Driffield, beating Pealwsinger, Laura, and two
others. Won by two lengths.
The Selling Stake was won by Mr. Flintoff's The Rhine,
beating 6ix. others. Heats. Won easy.

FRIDAY

The Mostyn Stake was won by Mr. T. Dawson's c by
D'Egville, beating Sharston end Lanercost. Won easy.

The Chester Handicap Stake was won by Mr. W.
Smith's Master Downes, heating Romance, Spitbead,
Patriot, The Prince, Erin-go-bragh, c by Touchstone--
Laura, and Factory Girl. Factory G,rl took the lead,
with all the horses well up. Master Downes came up at
the Ca.tle turn, and won cleverly by a length. Spithead
was beat about the same distance by the second.

The Helier Skelter Handicap was won by Mr. Meik-
lam's c by Touchsrone, beating Fair Rosamond, British
Tar, Factory Girl, Lady Sara!), Alice, and Juvenal.
Heats. \Vou cleverly.