The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-05-07 00:00:00

?Litcraturr.

POETRY.

SWEET BUDS, YE ARE BURSTING.

The following beautiful s'anzas were written in the spring of
last year, by ROBERT aToav, author of " The Isles are
Awake," a 'd several other stirring and animated pieces ~f
poetry The author is a hue son of genius. and was placed
in a humble lot; in this pretty effusion he describes the ne-
glect which he had experienced from those whom, he con-
ceived, should have extended to him their protection. We
are glad to say that Sir Robert Peel, some time ago, confer ed
upon the author an appointment in une of the government
offices.

Sweet hods, ye are bursting profusely to sight,
Th earth is becoming one fairy domain
And the hearts or its thou ands ,re toudied with delight,
By your promise of spring and her beauties again
But my heart

yet, Oh no! I will welcome ye still,
Sweer heralds of joy—not to me or to mine:
For. talk of bright days to the world as ye will,
To us ye speak neither of bloom nor of shine.

No summer to me shall the summer restore,
But one comfortless desert. all wintry ,nd bare;
And hopeless, ano heartless, and nerveless, no more
I battle with fortune, or copy with despair.

Perchance too much heat in the advocate woke:
'Twas so ; for I am rot, and car not he. one
Who flings o'er his thoughts and opinions a cloak,
Standing 1'4,4 with all parties, but siding with none.

Yet I sung not for party, though p•rtisan called;
But I sum: what Ifelt—wh,:t each Briton should feel,
When ai,archy threatened and peril appalled—
My arty, my country ; my motive, her weal!

And for this lam crushed! Yet I blame riot the men,
Destructives, indignant at missi.:g their end :
It is human to crush an oppon lit; but then
Is it n)t so to shield and to succour a fr.end?

It is, and 'mere godli' e, and worthy of those
ho have gained the high tower of their hopes, to declare
That each step of the !adder by w ich they arose,
The lowest—the weakest—may challenge their care.

Vain hope ! The protection to principle due,
Some rebel may get ; but the patriot and bard
Shall die—bearing witness that loyalty true
Is its own—and is ever its only reward!

NOTICES.

The Library of Travel.

We have received Part I. of a neat and interesting work
under this title, being "A popular Descripti,,n of Foreign
Countries, edited by Walter K. Kelly," and have been
much iThasei with a hasty glance at its pages. It is ex-
ceedingly wed, and, we may add, elep-,.intly written, the
object of the editor being to supply the very gist and mar-
row of the best modern narratives of travel and adven-
ture, with reminiscences of the past ; and judging from the
specimen before us, we should say that he deserves the
highest success. This part is occupied with Syria, and
rnqre especially Beyr, ut, being the commencement of
" Syria and the Holy Land." Tne appearance of the
country--the town—the varied and motley inhabitants,
and th,.ir equally varied and somewhat antagonist man-
ners and customs, are all interestingly described, with
moving incidents interspersed, which impart to the whole
a peculiar degree of vivacity and entertainment. The
book, which is of very moderate price, is illustrated with
numerous well executed wood-cuts, of scenery, figures,
&c. In the prospectus forming the cover, the editor
states—

"Topography, archaeology, an•l all other maters that
come within the scope of a traveller's speculations, will
enter of course int, the composition of our mosaic; but
they will be treated popularly, and always with reference
to the muin purpose of the putdic4t,on, which is to pre-
sent to the reader's imagirnition, nut the bloodless ab-
stractions of science, but the living and breathing forms
of nature and of men. In a word, it will be our endea-
vour to picture foreign scenes, and those who dwell in
them, as they meet the eye of the visitor ; to reflect in our
pages the striking features of nature and of art in distant
lands—'he peculiar, social, domestic, and personal habits
they display—the ways of thinking and acting of their
people, and all the pleasures and crossings, the perils and
adventures, the poetry, and romance, the whims, hu-
mours, and surpri.es incident to the traveller's career.'
An extract or two will be found elsewhere.

Blacktrood's Magazine.

There are several excellent articles in the number for
the present mouth, chiefly, however, of a solid character,
with a rather smaller sprinkling than usual of those of a
light and amusing vein. The first is No. I. of a series of
papers on " Imprisonment and Transportation," with re-
ference, in ad., instance more especially, to tee " Increase
of Crime." Tne author, we th nk, takes rather a gloomy
view of the subject, imputing—on the authority of some.
what exclusive statistics, the real accur, ey of which may
be questioned, if indeed they be not ex parte—by far the
greater wee,,W of our national delinquency to the increase
and demoralising influence of our manufacturing system.
Recent accounts from Preston and other towns state. on
the contrary, that—probably owing mainly to the opera-
e, tires being pretty fully employed—crime had during the
last three months decreased to about one-fourth of its
amount within the same period last year. Our author by
no means approves of the recent relaxations in our penal
code, which he considers altogether inoperative for good ;
and though we are nut friendly, saving for the highest
offences, to extreme or sanguinary punishments, which
are the general resort of bad and arbitrary governments,
it must be admitted on behalf of his argument, that it has
become extremely difficult of late to visit great criminals
with condign punishment. We concur with him that the
progress of education, such as it generally is amongst the
working classes, has effected hut a negative amelioration,
if aey at all ; for the heart must be improved by religious
and motel training, as well as the head, before men in a
dense end naturally vicious state of society can be re-
claimed. The mere mechanical art of reading and wri-
ting, and that imperfect in degree, without this, may be a
bane. Our author promises in his next paper to consider
the causes of the general failure in the recent relaxations
of the law, &c., and the means requisite for the diminu-
tion of crime. lie sill fail to convince us if he do not
include religions instrucCon, and the putting down, if
possible, of the ton general resort to the intemperate use
of intox•catine liqu rs, wi:h its coneornitaet evils of reck•
lessuesi arid domestic improvidence.—" The Rhine and
Rhinelan lers " will be read with interest, especially by
cont neet .1 tourists. " The Monster Itlisery of Litera-
ture" is to:-citily depict -d no li,erary production, how-
ever tab-ore I, will command an adequate sum from a
booksener, unit ss it be spun cut to " tilIC,! volumes," to
suit the ridiculous and immtitaele taste of the circulating
libraree. " The Memoirs of a Statesman" is continued,
and with increasing interest. There is an article on Indian
affairs during the list sew years, which places the whole
within a glance, and vindicates Lord Ellenborough.
" The Freethiiiker" is well narrated, and, in conclusion,
imparts an admireble meal to all would-be atheists.
" Love in the Witdernoss" is not much to our taste, but
de gustibus, &r: Finally, tin re is a paper on the Land-
lord end Tenant questiou in Ireland, showing that the
owners cf the soil in that c untry have been most grossly
maligned by the partisan O'Connell press ; that the al-
leged extol tions in rent have no existence ; and that the
sufferiegs and discoet eat of the Irish peasantry must
have their r rigie and continuance in far different causes.
Some extracts will be found elsewhere.