The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-08-18 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARII

SUPERSTITION ON THE DANUBE.—A superstitious
notion prttails in Upper Austria, that the Danube re-
quires a 'dung man for a yearly victim. I myself saw a
fellow fall overboard, and drown after a long struggle,
during which neither the crew of the vessel nor his com-
rades made the slightest effort to save him. While he
was battling against the impetuous waves, the crew stood
quite composedly on deck, and cried out in chorus.
" Jack, Jack, give in—dost not sec 'tis what pleases
God..."—Sketches of Austria.

The following is a ludicrous and humorous picture of
a family of monkeys in a tree, and a dog menacing them
—ln my tonjon yesterday I passed a large old tree, inha-

bit( d by a family of monkeys—father, mother, and chit..
dren of all ages. Don, A—'s dog, who with me, was
in a perfect fury to get hold of them, sitting upon his
hind legs, and whining with agony. The monkeys were
in a rage too, but they were very clever. The old father
bunted his wife and children up the tree, on to one of
the high branches;' and when he had seen them safe
where they could only peep out and grin, he came down
again himself, and stood at the edge of a dancing bough,
chattering, grinning, and evidently trying to provoke
Don, taking excellent care, however, to keep out of harm's
way himself, and sneering, till poor Don was so wild with
fury, that I was obliged to have him tied up and led
away.

UNPUBLISHED ANECDOTE OF THE DUKE OF WEL-
LINGTON.—One morning lately, the duke was riding with
his groom along the north bank of the Serpentine, when
an unfortunate gentleman, who had got out of his depth
in the water, hallooed lustily to his grace for assistance.
His grace stopped his horse, and turning to the river, re-
plied :—Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington is only a
subscriber to the Royal Humane Society, neither he nor
his groom hold any office under that institution. He is
not one of tin park-keepers, and he has no connection
with the metropolitan police. The duke declines inter-
fering. The gentleman in the water may apply to any
one of the officers of police." The duke then touched his
hat with his forefinger and quietly rode on.--Horace
Mayhew.

TEM DANGER or Roucte.—A lady who piqued herself
on the beauty, freshness, and pure white and red of her
complexion, went to attend a chemical lecture. She had
—en there long, when suddenly her face was ob-
served by all present to become perfectly blue. Uncon-
scious of the change, or of the attention directed to her
ghastly features, she smilingly continued talking to her
acquaintance, aod, if she remarked the wondering eyes
turned towards her, doubtless attributed their gaze to the
fairness of which she was so vain. At length one of her
companions ventured to whisper in her ear the strange
and alarming alteration that had taken place, and which
on her making a precipitate retreat, was attributed by the
lecturer to its true cause : the comestic she had used being
affected by some salt, or acid, employed in his experi-
ments, had caused the marvellous transfiguration.—
Books of Costume by a Lady of Rank. _ _

BARON PLATT k BUTLER.—The worthy baron tra-
velled nearly all Friday night, in order to be in Wells as
early as possible on the following morning. On reaching
one of the inns on the road, finding that Boniface had
retired to the arms of Morpheus, or of his better half,
his lordship attacked the door with such vehemence that
locks, bolts, and bars flew back, and admittance was
gained in a trice. Having fortified the inner man, his
lordship was proceeding from the room he had occupied
to his carriage. when he met " mine host." " What
have I to pay ?" he asked. " Oh, nothing, nothing,"
was the answer ; " we don't charge butlers when they
bring their masters here." The worthy justice shook his
sides with laughter at the idea of her Majesty's represen-
tative being taken for a butler; and the sides of the gene-
rous host shook under very different emotions when he
discovered that be had made so great a mistake.
THE BLEEDING PREMIER.—When Sir Robert Peel
lately made his memorable speech on going out of office,
he was very much agitated. He bled profusely by the
nose ; and an honourable member behind him (Colonel
Rushbrooke) observing that he bad only a white silk
handkerchief—soon disfigured by the stains—handed to
him a red handkerchief. The Premier bowed, accepted
the proffer, and proceeded with a speech, destined, per-
haps, to affect the legislation of the world. The debate
went on ; great excitement prevailed, and decent Colonel
Rushbrooke, retiring about one or two o'clock in the
morning, his mind occupied with the international affairs
of the whole terraqueous globe, was suddenly brought
down from his altitude by Peel's livery servant, with his
master's compliments and thanks, presenting to him the
said red silk handkerchief—carefully washed, ironed, and
folded—just as if it had been lent by a milliner's girl to a
laundress.—London Correspondent of Inverness Courier.