The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-01-29 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

THE MORNING STAR:

(From a Volume just intblished, entitled Original Compositions in
Prose and Verse.)

Many years since there was a small village about a mile and
a half from the eastern gate of the city of Liege. The best
house in it was the little inn, which stood apart from the rest
about a stone's throw. What its sign may have originally been
I do not know, for it was known through all the country round
by the name of the " Morning Star,' which it had acquired
from the alertness of its inmates. No house in the whole pro-
vince of Flanders kept such early hours. The landlord, Adam
Polder, was an old man, and his wife not much younger than
himself. Their niece, Trinette (Catrine was her real name, but
all the world called her Trinette,) assisted them, and was, in
fact, the effibient person ; and great credit, indeed, she had "of
it, for it was the very pattern of a village inn, with its pink
front and its green outside shutters, and the white benches on
each side of the door, and the four poplar trees between it and
the road; and then inside the nicely sanded floor, and the raft-
ers loaded with hams and dried fish, and the blazing hearth, and
the shelf decorated with Touruay earthenware, and the store Of
bright brass jars and dishes, which Trinette polished till they
shone like gold. It was quite a little Flemish. Paradise. But
the thing'she was prouder of than of all besides was the little
garden behind it, where, over and above the onion-bed, which
supplied her mistress with the magnificent clusters she delighted
in hanging up in her window, Trinette contrived, with the as-
sistance of Jan Van Bloemen, to rear some tulips, which both
believed to be the finest flowers that had ever -blossomed be-
yowl the precincts of Haerlem. Now, this Jan Van Bloemen
was a young market-gardener, whom all the world pointed out
as Trinette's bachelor. It was very true, that whenever he had
occasion to go into the city, and these occasions had occurred
almost daily for the last seven or eight months, he always dis-
covered that his shortest road was that which led him by the
"Morning Star ;" and he would often stop, in a neighbourly
way, to chat with old Adam, or to help his pretty niece to tie
up her flowers. Moreover, he had danced with Trinette at the
kermesse of their own, and all the neighbouring villages ; and
when he carried off the prize at the last popinjay, credible wit-
nesses asserted that he had been heard to declare, that he felt
much less satisfaction in his success than in the reflection that
she had been a witness of his triumph ; at which avowal Tri-
nette was said to have blushed and smiled. In short, it was
supposed to be a settled thing, and every body called Jan a very
lucky fellow; for, besides her beirig very pretty, it was beyond
a doubt, as Adam had no child, that she would inherit the con-
tents of a long leathern purse, which he kept in the large house-
hold chest, with the brass belts and hinges, which stood in the
kitchen, acting in the double capacity of receptacle and dresser,
and into which, every Saturday night, he emptied the gains of
the preceding week—and Adam's gains were sure gains. It
was not one of those beer-houses where you see cards about all
day, and hear the billiard-balls rattling till midnight, as is too
frequently the case; but respectable customers, good beer, short
accounts, and early hours, characterised the "Morning Star ;"
early hours, indeed, for the family went nightly to bed with the
lamb, and reason good, for they rose before the lark. Now, it
happened one day towards the end of Autumn, that Jan had
been detained at Liege till a much later hour than usual, yet he
was unwilling to return home without communicating to his
friend AdaM some important intelligence he had just received
from the brother-in-law of the cousin of the burgomaster's con-
fidential servant, relative to au expected rise in the price of
hops. He almost feared that the door might have.been closed
for the night, but there was no harm in trying if it were still
on the latch. His surprise and pleasure may be conceived
when, as he approached, he saw the fire-light darting bright
cheering gleams through the still-open casement. I will not
venture to affirm that his feelings experienced no check, when
a closer examination enabled him to discover that Adam's kit-
chen that evening received unwonted guests. Three men of
unprepossessing physiognomy, in whose dress the trader and
the military adventurer were anomalously blended, were seated
smoking round the table, on which stood a flask of Rhenish
wine, and a Dutch cheese, which Jan well knew was seldom
produced except on occasions of ceremony. Adam sat in his
stiff-backed oak chair, listening with an air of deferential re-
spect to the occasional observations of the strangers; the hos-
tess plied her knitting in the chimney corner, and Trinette, who
was -busied in removing the remains of dinner, was laughing
gaily at the witticisms which ever and anon escaped from their
lips, in the intervals between their long whiffs. Neither did it
escape Jan's notice, though certainly it was but a trifle, that
the village coquette was dressed with more than usual attention
to effect—her linen cap arranged with more than ordinary care
over her glossy dark hair, and the wrought clocks of her blue
worsted stockings more ostentatiously displayed than was her
wont. It was perhaps not unnatural that a jealous lover, and
such was the market-gardener, should combine the circum-
stances, and conclude that this holyday attire was exhibited in
honour of the, to him, very objectionable associates in whose
company he beheld her. The real key to Trinette's unusual
finery and superabundant lightness of heart had escaped his
penetration—she sported, for the first time, a pair of long gold
ear-rings ! Jan had been standing for about ten minutes au
unsuspected observer of the group, when Trinette suddenly per-
ceived him, as she passed the windows in the course of her
household arrangements, and her surprise was indicated by a
start, which the jealous lover thought betokened less gratifica-
tion than her manner towards him usually evinced; and his re-
flections did not become less gloomy when she joined him, ex-
claiming, in her liveliest tone, "A fine night, Mynheer Jan !
but somewhat of the chilliest. Methinks it would be wiser in
your worship to turn in, and take a scat by our fire-side, than to
stand out here in the frosty wind, counting the stars, like M. le
Cure, or the bishop's chaplain." "I am not cold, Trinette,"
replied Jan, exasperated by her ill-timed pleasantry, "neither
was I counting the stars, neither am I disposed for a seat by
the fire-side in the company of strangers." " For that matter,"
returned the damsel, with a toss of her little head, " nobody
wishes to constrain your self-willed inclinations. But I find it
cold, and I must go in ; my master and these honourable gen-
tlemen will require my attendance." " These honourable gen-
tlemen, indeed! I never saw more unprepossessing-looking in-
dividuals in my life. Let me tell you, Trinette, it is not for the
credit of the " Morning Star" to harbour such suspicious cha-
racters. Honourable gentlemen! Why, they are more like
smugglers, or deserters, or brigands," continued he, in rising
wrath ; " if old Adam would take my advice, he would close
his door against such desperadoes." " Vastly well, Heer Van
Bloemen!" retorted the maid of the inn ; " but old Adam knows
his interest, and my interest, and the interest of the " Morn-
ing; Star" better than to close his door against respectable tra-
vellers from foreign parts, with their memories full of old sto-
ries from distant countries, and reports of the wars of our own
days, and their purses full of broad pieces, which they are ready
and willing to spend." "Aye, and their knapsacks full of
trinkets and toys, which they arc willing to bestow on the host's
pretty niece," cried the indignant gardener, furiously glancing
at the new ear-rings which had just met his eye. low, Tri-
nette really loved Jan as well as she loved any thing excepting
herself; so, perhaps, had she not been self-convicted of a super-
abundance of complacency in her new bravery of attire, she
would have condescended to relieve his uneasiness by acknow-
ledging that the obnoxious ornaments were the present of her
sister, the wife of a respectable grocer at Namur ; but offended
by his jealousy, and not quite displeased to consider herself the
injured party instead of the aggressor, she contented herself
with replying scornfully, " These ear-rings were not given me
by the honourable gentlemen. It is very • strange, Jan Van
bloetnen, that you will imagine there is no one disposed to
make me apresent but yourself or old Adam, or these guests of
our's." "[wish your guests were—at Liege," interrupted he,
suppressing a less charitable wish. " The gates will soon be
shut, and they will hardly like to spend the night in the fields."
"Neither will they require to do so----they propose lodging
here." " Here !" reiterated Jan, who knew, from the proxi-
mity of the city, such a thing had never occurred as a travel-
ler's spending the night under Adam Polder's roof. " It is im-
possible, Trinette; you have not accommodation to receive
them." "It is very certain) however, that these honourable
gentlemen have pressing business; they. will set forward on
their way before the city gates are open in the morning; and
as for their lodging, my mistress and I will sleep in the inner
rooni, and the eldest of the travellers will have the bed in the
kitchen; old Adam will do very well for one night, rolled in a
good blanket, and lying on the household chest; and the two
others, being active young men, have no objection to climb the
ladder and sleep in the loft." "You have managed well; and
yet,. St. Gudule help me ! but I have great misgivings about
these men." " You are valorous !" replied Trinette, laughing
affectedly. " Good Jan ! - mind your cabbages, and let us
manage our affairs for ourselves. It's lucky you have not yet
authority to command in the " Morning Star," and may be it
were wiser that I never put it iu your power to do so.'' " It
might he better for us both that. I never attempted to influence
a stubborn wit!, or attach a fickle heart." " As you will, Jan
—the loss will be yours, not mine," retorted the offended girl.
The tone of forced mirth in which these words were pronounced
was infinitely displeasing to Jan's feelings, and he was far too
angry to observe that tears of vexation gushed into her eyes.
The insulting. laugh was conclusive ; he turned sullenly on his
heel, and left her without one parting word. She watched him
with half-relenting interest till he was out of sight ; twice she
was about to recall him, and twice pride overcame her better
feelings. "I will make friends with him to-morrow," said she
—"to-morrow." The morrow broke, and Jan, magnanimously
nursing his much-abated indignation, resolved to betake him-
self for his morning meal to any place in the neighbourhood,

excepting the "Morningg Star." Fearful that he might be
tempted to break through this praiseworthy resolution, he would
not even trust himself to look in that direction, and actually
proceeded to his master's garden by the straight path across
the fields, revolving in his mind thoughts not very compliment-
ary to the constancy of the fair sex in general, and of the indi-
vidual culprit in particular. He had not proceeded very far on
his way, before he was accosted by Wilhelm Stein, the mason,
who observed in that tone of peculiar bitterness which dis-
tinctly indicates that the individual speaking has suffered a dis-
appointment in the matter of his matin meal, " Friend Jan !
the Morning Star' will lose its reputation for early hours; I
have been knocking at the door till I am tired, and no one an-
swers; the shutters are still closed, and the household doubtless
still asleep. As a friend, let me advise you to remonstrate with
Trinette, or the leathern purse will be lighter than you think
for." In the bitterness of his wrath, Jan was about emphati-
cally to declare his total indifference to the weight of the purse,
and his unqualified conviction of the absolute inutility of any
remonstrance from him in that quarter; but as no man likes to
point himself out as the object of indifference and contempt to
the ladye love, he allowed the observation to pass, as it un-
heard, and contented himself with forming a very fervent
mental aspiration, that, ere long, by word or deed, Wilhelm
Stein might give him a legitimate excuse for knocking him
down. Wilhelm passed on, and Jan, who soon reached his des-
tination, addressed himself diligently to his work; but before
noon, many passers-by had remarked on the tardiness of the
Morning Star,' and some expressed a doubtful wish that all
might be well within.' Coupling these remarks with the re-
collections of the night before, a sudden apprehension flashed
across the gardener's mind. He threw down his spade, and
hurried to the little iun ; the shutters were still closed, and, to
his inexpressible horror, he perceived that no smoke curled
from its chimneys. He knocked, but there was no answer : he
called, but nothing appeared to stir within. Some persons,
however, hearing ,131111, hastened from the neighbouring fields to
his assistance. lhe door, upon trial, appeared firmly fastened;
and they were considering what course they should next pursue,
when a faint, a very faint moaning decided them to enter, let
follow what might. There was a low window at the back of the
house, which occurred to them as offering more facility for
gaining admission than any other. It looked into the garden,
and the flower-beds beneath had evidently been recently tramp-
led. The shutters, which were here simply closed, not bolted,
yielded immediately to their hands, and Jan Van Bloemen
sprang in hastily, and gained the interior of the cottage before
any of his companions had followed him. An exclamation of
horror prepared them in some degree for the scene within. The
stream of light from the garden window disclosed an appalling
spectacle. The lifeless body of old Adam, gashed with wounds,
lay on the kitchen floor, close by the brass-belted chest, whose
lid had been burst open, and the contents rifled. The corpse of
his wife was also stiffening in her blood, and a weak feeble
groaning alone indicated that the murderers had left one deed
of blood incomplete. Could affection stay the parting breath,
Jan's assurances of pardon were not wanting. But Trinette's
moments were numbered; and gathering her little remaining
strength by an effort, to point out the last night's travellers as
the perpetrators of the crime, she sunk back upon his shoulder
to wake no more ! Search was made instantly for the fugitives,
and they were very shortly discovered, concealed in a low oak-
copse, about half a mile from the spot. They offered no resis-
tance when seized, but suffered themselves tranquilly to be con-
ducted to the Hotel de Ville, where, as it happened, the tribunal
of justice was at that moment sitting. Trinette's dying deposi-
tion, and Jan's identification of their persons were unnecessary
to convict them, as they made a full confession of their guilt,
which was accompanied by circumsthuces of peculiar barbarity
and duplicity. Sentence was passed upon them, and every in-
dividual present acquiesced in the justice of the award; but a
thrill of horror ran through the whole court, when one of the
prisoners stepping forward, declared, in his own name and that
of his accomplices, that from the moment of committing the
crime for which they were justly about to suffer, they felt that
they were delivered over, body and spirit, to the enemy of souls.
They. had wandered for hours, but always in a circle ; for an
irresistible force restrained their steps, and withheld them with-
in sight of the home of their unoffending victims. They were
removed from the bar, and a pious priest never after left their
side, urging them to employ their few remaining hours in making
their peace with Heaven. But they turned a deaf ear to his
admonitions; they spurned the offers of pardon, and awaited
in hardened impenitence or stolid apathy, their fearful doom.
The fatal hour arrived, and an immense crowd collected to
witness their execution. I will not enter into the details—
suffice it to say, that the sentence decreed them to be burnt,
that their very remains might not cumber the earth. But no
human hand scattered their ashes to the winds of heaven for,
while the flames still crept lazily round the blackened pile, a
tempest arose which, in violence, surpassed auy that the oldest
Liegeois present ever remembered. Loud, sudden, cracking
bursts of thunder, attended by vivid and forky lightnings, and
furiously rushing blasts of wind, dispersed the terrified multi-
tude. The alarmed executioner even fled from the spot, and it
was not till the storm had subsided into a heavy continuous
plashy rain, that he returned to look upon his work. A black
scathed-looking spot was all the trace left of what had recently
occurred there, from which, to his unutterable horror, crawled
an innumerable swarm of black-beetles, who spread themselves
in all directions through the city."

ATTACK UPON A HARE BY A MAGPIE.—TO record the petty
conflicts of the inferior animals may seem trifling to the general
observer; but to the naturalist who writes the history of a spe-
cies, no anecdote, however trivial, that serves to illustrate pecu-
liar of character, can appear either uninteresting or super-
fluous. I was informed the other day by a friend (a medical
man, with whom I am on terms, and on whose veracity I can
rely:). that he had just witnessed a curious contest between a
magpie and a fine full-grown hare; the bird snaking frequent
and turious pounces at the hare, and pursuing it for a consider-
able distance, when the animal escaped by making for a thick
hedge, at the other side of which it ran off to some distance
from the place where it had entered, and without being ob-
served by the bird. I had alm ays considered the magpie to be
a remarkably bold bird, but never conceived him capable of
such an exploit as this. Field Naturalist's Magazine.
QUEEN ADELAIDE.—The following observations upon our
gracious queen, are extracted from a paper called the Anglo
Germanic Adviser :—"The late Duke of Meiningen, father to
her majesty, was a steady supporter of the Protestant faith, but
died at the early age of forty-two years, when her majesty was
only nine years old. He left, by his last will, his consort,
Louisa Elenora, regent of the duchy, and guardian of his three
children. Under this amiable woman the children were edu-
cated in great retirement, and with a care and attention to their
morals, and improvement in every branch of polite learning,
that does the highest credit to her virtues and character. The
two princesses, Adelaide and Ida of Meiningen, became cele-
brated for their amiable and estimable conduct. Though na-
turally of a lively and cheerful disposition among their more
intimate associates, they took little or no pleasure in the gaieties
or frivolities of fashion, and when arrived at more mature years,
showing an utter detestation for the laxity of morals and con-
tempt for religious feelings which had sprung out of the revolu-
tion in' France, and found their way into many courts of Eu.
rope. Their chief delight was in establishing and superintend-
ing schools for the education of the lower classes of the com-
munity, and in procuring and providing food and clothing for
the feeble and destitute in the city and suburbs of the ducal re-
sidence. Above all, the Princess Adelaide was the soul and
life of every institution which had for its object the well-being
of her fellow-creatures."

TIM DEFENCE OF LISBON BY THE MEE OF WELLINGTON.—
(From Colonel Mackinnon's History of the Coldstream Guards.)
—lt is no reproach to Sir John Moore, who ranked amongst
the bravest and most intelligent British Generals of his time,
to say, that what all men but Wellington thought impossible
appeared impossible to him. The letter of that General to
Lord Castlereagh, written at no very long period before Sir
Artifur Wellesley directed the lines of Torres Vedras to be
constructed, will prove how far even Sir John Moore was from
supposing it to be within the reach of human ability to check
an enemy at Lisbon, and to baffle any attempt on that capital.
—" Salamanca, Nov. 25, 1808.-1 am not prepared at this
moment to answer minutely your Lordship's question respect-
ing the defence of Portugal, but I can say generally, that the
frontier of Portugal is not defensible against a superior force.
It is au open frontier—all equally rugged but, all equally to be
penetrated. -If the French succeed, in Spain, it will be in vain
to attempt to resist them in Portugal. The Portuguese are
without military force; and, from the experience of their con--
duct under Sir Arthur Wellesley, no dependence is to be placed
on any aid they can give. The British must, in that event, I
conceive, immediately take steps to evacuate the country. Lis-
bon is the port, and therefore the only place from whence the
army with its stores can embark. Elvas and Almeida are the
only fortresses on the frontier. The first is, I am told, a re-
spectable work. Almeida is defective, and,could not hold out
ten days against a regular attack. I have ordered a depot
of provisions, for a short consumption to be formed there, in
case this army should be obliged to fall back; perhaps the same
should be done at Elves. In this case we might check the pro-
gress of the enemy whilst the stores are embarking and arrange-
thents are made for taking off the army. Beyond this, the de-
fence of Lisbon or Portugal is not to be thought of. I have the
honour to be, &c. " Joinv MOORE."

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