The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-07-11 00:00:00

ABSURDITY OF DUELLING.—A. person ignorant of the
origin and history of the modern duel would be at consi-
derable loss to analyse its nature and elements. If he
were to conceive that a mere spirit of revenge dictated
the practice, he would find cases where an adversary,
having met his antagonist in the field, shook hands with,
took his ground, exposed himself to a mortal fire, and
finally discharged his own pistol into the air ; revenge
thus taking the whimsical course of receiving, not impo-
sing, an infliction. if it were then supposed that the duel
might merely be an invention to enable two men to dis-
play their physical courage and contempt of death, a mis-
take would be found in this view also for, not unfre-
quently, where two individuals are prepared to go all
lengths as print pals, their seconds or friends, into whose
hands they have put their case, will permit no further
procedure, on the ground that, by the code of duelling,
no infringement of honour has, after all, taken place. If
the inquirer persisted in his investigation, and endea-
voured to ascertain in what the gentlemanlike satisfaction
of duelling consisted, be would perhaps be surprised to
find that a man, having sustained an injury, possesses by
duel practice the further advantage of a chance of having
a final end put to all his earthly cares and annoyances.—
Anti-Duel; by John Dunlop.
ATHENS AS IT is.—We see Athens in ruins. On the
central rock of its acropolis exist the remains, in a muti-
lated state, of three temples—the temple of Victory, the
Parthenon, and the Erectlieum ; of the Propylaea in the
same place ; at its western entrance, some walls and a few
columns are still standing; of the theatre on the south
side of the Acropolis, in which the dramas of ./Eschylus,
Sophocles, and Euripides were represented, some stone
steps remain. Not a vestige survives of the courts in
which Demosthenes pleaded. There is no trace of the
academic porches of Plato, or of the lyceum of Aristotle.
The pcecile of the Stoics has vanished ; only a few of the
long walls which ran along the plain and united Athens
with its harbours, are yet visible. Even nature herself
appears to have undergone a change. The source of the
fountain Callirrhoe has almost failed ; the bed of the
Illissus is nearly dry ; the harbour of the Peirceus is
narrowed and made shallow by mud. But while this is
so, while we are forcibly and mournfully reminded by this
spectacle of the perishable nature of the most beautiful
objects which the world has seen, while we read in the
ruins of these temples of Athens, and in the total ex-
tinction of the religion to which they were dedicated, an
apology in behalf of Christianity, and a refutation of pagan-
ism, more forcible and eloquent than any of those which
were composed and presented to the Roman emperor by
Aristides and Quadratus in this place, we are naturally led
by it to contrast the permanence and vitality of the spirit
and intelligence which produced these works, of which
the vestiges either exist in a condition of ruinous decay,
or have entirely disappeared, with the fragility of the
material elements of which they are composed. Not at
Athens alone are we to look for Athens. The enitaph—
Here is the heart: the spirit is everywhere—may be ap-
plied to it. From the gates of the Acropolis, as from a
mother city, issued intellectual colonies into every region
of the world. These buildings now before us, ruined as
they are at present, have served for two thousand years as
models of the most admired fabrics in every civilized
country of the world. Having perished here, they sur-
vive there. They live in them as in their legitimate off-
spring. Thus the genius which conceived and executed
these magnificent works, while the materials on which it
laboured are dissolved, has itself proved immortal. We,
therefore, at the present time, having witnessed the fact,
have more cogent reasons for admiring the consummate
skill which created them, than were possessed by those
who saw these structures in their original glory and
beauty.— Wordsworth's Greece.

THE VAUDOIS.—In 1686 the Vaudois of Angrogna as-
sembled in an amphitheatre of rocks to implore the suc-
cour of heaven, and to hear their pastor's exhortations,
being prohibited from meeting in their usual places of
worship. The scene is thus described in an interesting
work just published, entitled " The Escape of the Vau-
dois." It was an impressive scene that opened on the
eyes of the young party as they reached the summit of
the acclivity, and looked down a deep gorge between
hanging rocks, whose rugged points, emerging from the
wild vine, glittered in the evening rays. About half way
down the mountain was a mossy sward, some fifty feet
wide, sheltered by wooded rocks, which shelved down to
that same brook they had just left so placid on the other
side, now dashing and foaming over the rocks that broke
its current. Yet not alone the water's rush disturbed
the stillness of the hour, but the footsteps of several Vau-
dois peasants, leaping from the heights above, or hurry-
ing up the ascent beneath. These were the Protestants
of the early church coming to perform their evening
sacrifice. And beautiful was it to see the hoary head of
old age, and the comeliness of youth, meet.in no conse-
crated building, whose stately pillars and ;storied walls
attested the pride of human skill, but beneath the glori-
ous canopy of heaven, resplendent with the, indescribable
brilliancy of a thousand hues, and within the massive en-
closure of the Alpine rocks. All now was still ; one deep
clear voice alone rang clearly through the hushed multi-
tude, and accompanied by many a silent prayer, ascended
on the wings of faith. It was again a 'beautiful sight—
that prostrate crowd, that scenery, and the venerable form
of the old man, who, with simple and energetic devotion,
poured forth the supplication of the Vaudois flock for de-
liverance from the yoke of tyranny, and for protection in
the hour of need The appearance of Arnaud was calcu-
lated to inspire attention and respect. His figure, rather
above the common height, was such as might have realized
the imagination of the first apostolic preacher of Christi-
anity ; and the holy subjects of his constant meditation
had given an elevated expression to his countenance,
which awed rather than commanded all beholders. It
might have been deemed stern, but Christian love had
softened even the resentment which his country's suffer-
ings had awakened, and lent a milder lustre to the bright
eye which beamed from beneath a bushy and thick-set
brow. His eye did not in truth bear proportion to its
signs ; for deep thought and ardent anxiety, rather than
years. had ploughed the furrows on his cheek, and prema-
turely changed the hue of the once dark and clustering
locks. Some passages were read and listened to with the
serious attention that a deep value of the privilege of
which bigotry would fain have deprived them, well me-
rited ; and then the congregation was dismissed, their
hearts full of the holy feelings which the ceremony had
engendered. Some had many a weary mile before them ;
their path lay across dark and dangerous regions, but
the.. rrwild not tiofoi• the. IT-- .I_,

Lim v auuois !roux discharging so
clear a duty, the performance of which was attended by so
many difficulties ; for it was only by night and after a day
of labour, that they could hold their meetings undis-
turbed."

New Uses OF InoN.—Among the new employments
found for iron, must be mentioned shipbuilding. Iron
was first used about the year 1810, for the construction of
vessels employed in canal and river navigation. After this,
the first similar employment of this material occurred in
1820, when a steam vessel, called the Aaron Manby, was
constructed at the Horsley Iron Work, and made the voy-
age between the capitals of England and France without
unlaiding any part of cargo. This vessel is still in good
.•..

_ition, although 22 years old, never having required
any repairs to her hull. In 1825, a small iron steam boat
was placed on the river Shannon, where she is now em-
ployed, in good condition. In 1832, the Elburkah,
an iron steam vessel, built by Messrs. Laird, and Co.
in Liverpool, made the voyage f to t'

.rom that port ne coax,
of Africa, and twice ascended the river Niger. This suc-
cessful experiment led to the construction of many other
iron steam vessels. One builder, Mr. John Laird, of
Birkenhead, near Liverpool_ L

t 45 iron vessels, of
. The total number

nas
the aggregate burthen of 12,600 tons.
launched since ]B3O is said to exceed 150. The lark,.
iron vessel yet finished, and in use, is the Guadaloupe, a
steam frigate of 788 tons, carrying sixty-eight-pounders,
and belonging to the Mexican government; but her di-
mensions are insignificant when compared with those of
the Great Britain, now building, and nearly finished, at
Bristol.
The length of this vessel, from her figuer-
head to the taffrail, is .. • • •
The breadth of beam
The depth of her h01d....
Her draught of water, when loaded, is cal-
culated to be ..
and her burden 3,500 tons. The engines will have a force

320 feet.
51 „
31 ~ .