The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-07-11 00:00:00

CORRESPONDENCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL ST,INDAO
Stn,—Unwilling to trespass on the " liberality': of the
editors of the Mercury, I ask the favour of being per:
mitted, through the medium of your widely circulated
paper, to rectify some of their misconceptions in the re:
marks they made on my letter of the 15th ult., winch
appeared in the Mercury of the 4th inst.
They assert that my reasoning, that no education 15
better than secular education not based on Christian i 0".
struction, is equivalent to saying that no bread is pref4'
rable to half a loaf ; but this illustration is not aPPre'
priate. The comparison should have been between f+
stone and bread, not between no loaf and half a one'.
Mere secular education is the stone, which the editors of
the Mercury prefer giving their fellow-men to no educe'
tion at all ; whereas Christian instruction is the breaa,
that came down from heaven and nourishes unto eternal'
life. If Ido not give a starving man bread, is it better'
to give him a stone ?—or rather, if I do not supPlY
with food, is it better to administer to him poison ?
These gentlemen suppose that the inhabitants of au`
island instructed by philosophers, mathematicians, astrre;
th
nomers, anatomists, and botanists, and having
press, &c., would more readily receive Christianity an
the men f another island, who were totally untaughtf
who cracked children across their knees, sucked then
blood to slake their thirst, and then devoured their fles',.
'
to satisfy their hunger ; but this supposition exhibit',
great ignorance of human nature, and an oversight of
facts. Had not the Greeks and Romans among them
philosophers, mathematicians, astronomers, anatomists'
and botanists ? and had not the Chinese, in addition to
these, a free press ? But did these nations receive Chris:
tianity more readily than the untaught and uncivilisea
heathen ? Certainly not. The Gospel was to the win
learned, civilized, and polite Greeks, foolishness ; $ll
Rome Pagan, as well as Rome Papal, was and the
greatest opponent and enemy Christianity ever had ; $ll,l
as it was formerly, so it is now. For one Brahmin an
"
for one Chinese converted to Christianity, ten Pariahs
and ten New Zealand savages have been made wise unto
salvation, Just in proportion as you spoil a human being
through philosophy and vain deceit, so increases the (Bill"
culty of making him a convert to Christ.
ttieldTanmroacs inteaovrerirely censured for asserting that Papists are
idolators, and they are defended from the charge by being
said
picturesimagesthan Protestants (I except
in church-windows. or
than I do the Royal arms of England set up in churches.
This is a very poor apology. Neither do I nor sound
Protestants ever make use of the Royal arms of England'
or the pictures in church-windows, as coadjuvants in our
devotions ; but Papists do avowedly, and Tractarians
silently, make use of pictures, and especially of cruci-
fixes, as helps in their devotions to God. They use,
therefore, an image, graven by art and man's device, in
the exercise of their religious worship ; and so they trans'
gress the second commandment, and cannot escape the
charge of idolatry. Besides, they actually worship the
host, which constitutes a grosser act of idolatry than los
ever practised by the heathen. An attempt is made to
relieve transubstantiation from the pressure I laid upon
by an insinuation that the catechism of the Church of
England asserts the same thing as the Church of Rome
on this subject; and the question is triumphantly asked'
" Have words meanings ?" I reply that they have, espe-
cially those composing the constitutions of the Council °'
Trent, and pretty heterodox meanings they have; but the
words of our catechism have meaning perfectly orthodox
and plain. It asserts that the inward part or thing sigi
nified by the bread and wine is the body and blood of
Christ; ; and these certainly are verily and indeed taken
and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper ;----hll
how are they received ? Doubtless after a spiritual inss,;
ner ; that is, apprehended by faith as bruised and she"
for the remission of sins. They cannot be, taken after $
carnal manner, for they are not here kut in heaven. The
Church of England says that the body and blood of Christ
are verily and indeed taken and received, but the Churl'
of Rome maintains that what is taken and received, ill
the Lord's Supper, is the bread and wine transubstalici
tiated or changed into the substance of Christ's body $ll,,
blood—yea, more, his soul and divinity ! Hereby the
corrupt church destroys the property of a body, which 16
to be only in one place at one time, and overthrows tile
nature of a sacrament, which is a sign of an absent or
e
invisible reality, and makes the infidel equally with
believer a partaker of the body and blood of the Re"
deemer !
I do not call Papists idolators out of any I hear,
them, but from a desire of provokinz them to examine
their principles and test them by the 'Word of God.
using crucifixes in their devotions, in worshipping. the
host, in invoking the aid of the Virgin Mary, the saw"'
and angels, they do not intend any idolatry ; but I Ell
that though they do not intend idolatry by the ahoy
55
acts, they are nevertheless guilty of it by the exPre
declaration of the Scriptures, which, if they were anotee t
to search without a license from the church and withcT
Douay notes,—to search, I say, as God gave them, with-
out out note or comment, they would not wrest them to 67.
destruction, but read them unto edification and salvation'
I remain, sir, your faithful servant,
SAMUEL FENTON.
Wavertree, sth July, 1848.

INSTANCES OF THE ORIGIN OF TYPHUS FEVER
FROM DEFECTIVE SANITARY CONDITION•

to sanitary investigation are led to call in
BY GEORGE C. WATSON, M.D., LIVERPOOL.
Persons who have not had their attention peculiarlY di-
rected
the putsihinty or typhus ungmatlng trona specific local
causes, and well marked cases in which there can be no
reasonable doubt on the subject, are therefore valuable.
The causes to which typhus is usually ascribed are conta-
gion, cold, defective food, bad clothing, depressed moral
condition, and other similar circumstances. One or more
of these acting together will unquestionably produce fever ;•-•
and medical men, whose attention is chiefly directed t 0,..
such causes, are apt to overlook others of equal, if not et
superior, importance. The instances to which lam about
to call tention occurred in a family where there was 11S,
contagion, and where the physical and moral condition of
the inmates was as good as need be, except in one parti-
cular, and we shall see the result.
out of
In one of the airy, open thoroughfares, leading
Liverpool, and at the corner of a. street, stands a clean,
well-ordered house and shop, in the occupation of a bakeri
The family were temperate and industrious, they kepi
their house in the best condition, they were well fed an
well clothed, and belonged to the superior grade of trades:
people. The house, in short, was apparently one of Ow
last which typhus would have chosen to visit. This I '-
assert confidently, having had ample experience of the re-
ver localities of the town ; and I may also state that the'
baking of bread was not done on the premises.
Let us next examine the topography of this house. -
question
stands on the slope of a hill, and there is a populoal
neighbourhood higher up, part of which, with the 110'7
itself, as I have been informed, is built over the site
an old stone quarry, such as still exist in some localities,
These quarries are usually filled up with fragments 01
stone and other matters when as much has been got frgi
them as will pay the cost of quarrying. They not uriP;:i
quently form receptacles for the accumulated drainage:4,
the cesspools of houses built upon their sites, and I ba,',
no doubt such would be found the case in the present LllO-
stance, for there was no other drainage at the time wci,
fever broke out. The streets in the neighbourhood,
no drain of any kind ; and all the fluid refuse from then"and also from a shippon, where cattle are kept, had to P3'
the house in finding a lower level for itself. The coast°
quence was that a great deal of refuse accumulated in t,,11
gutters and holes in the paving, and at times the ar'3`r
was horrible beyond conception. Scavenging did little
it, because of the want of sewerage ; and the neighbour;
were constantly complaining of the nuisance. In tn
house in question the evil reached its climax, because, be-
ing a corner house, it received the contributions of till,
whole neighbourhood as they passed it. The smell in t
house compelled the inmates to have the windows opt'.
day and night, and to burn gas, in the vain attempt at de'
stroyinc, the odour. he
Such was the state of matters when, in June last,
brother of the occupant was seized with spotted typhus:
Everything was done that could be done to save bit°.
but in three weeks lie died.
In the following September, the other brother, who
married, and who occupied the house, was similarly
fected. He was a man in the prime of life and liealtPl
and was exposed to no other cause of fever than tilos!
mentioned. He was watched with the most assiduon
care ; but in fourteen days he, too, died a victim to T.,
infringed majesty of one of the organic laws establishedi4
the Creator for the regulation of His universe. He
widow and one little child as living witnesses of the Pto
Now it appears to me, that in this case, the connecticer
between cause and effect was just as well marked as it !het
is or can be in any vital phenomenon whatever, and "ere
to deny or doubt the conclusion, that both these men /Lir
cut off in their prime by the violation of the laws of tf
existence, (not by themselves, but by others,) is to a!„i„.
the whole evidence on which the fabric of medical
ence rests.

COURT AND FASHION.
A he
The Court remains in town, and her Majesty V. to,
Royal family have taken their accustomed out-door el—
cise since our last.
The Queen gave, on Wednesday, at Buckinghara
lace, a state ball, which was very numerously atteo"oo....
the invitations exceeding eighteen hundred, and conii.ces
ing the members of the Royal Family, the foreign FArrio•
and foreigners of distinction in this country, the no
matic corps, the Ladies of the Queen's Householarose..
Officers of State, and the principal Officers of the 0° tile
hold of her Majesty and Prince Albert, and most of bit,
nobility and gentry in town. The Queen wore aes in
crape dress, trimmed with white bugles and grailP..„.e;
crape and frosted leaves, the whole of British manufac 'nral
her Majesty's headdress to correspond. Her iZAss
highness the Duchess of Kent wore a black crape csirof
over satin, trimmed with bugles. The head-411400 ;
black lace, ornamented with bugles and white fell'
all the articles of British manufacture. astir
Lady Charlotte Egerton is actively engaged in 5, die-
ing a " Lace Quadrille" for her Majesty's ball, tl,diee
tinguished feature of which will consist of the a or
taking part therein being attired in dresses ferule
elusively of lace of Nottingham manufacture. Earl
of
Prince and Princess Metternich received the and
"
Wellington, the Marchioness of Douro, the -08`,.,ight,
Countess of Wilton, and a select party, on INlonclaY
at their residence in Eaton-square. '
ote
goal
A FRENCH MARE'S NEST.—The Journa/ de rity
states, as a fact which can be proved by the majority brig'
the inhabitants on the French coast, that €llbrig,
days preceding the recent insurrection a steam boat'
over
and cutter, belonging to the British Royal NaVY'Ol the
ceased to cruse along the coast of the departmentAuliarj‘
north, the Pas de Calais, and the Somme, Crow v
to Treport.

July It, IS48)

Eittrature.

P O E T R Y.

POLITICAL SONNET,
'ON READING THE GORGIAS OF PLATO.

(From Fraser's Magazine.)
O 1 ---, for a spell that might, in this our age,
Uusphere the spirit of Plato," to outpour
The glorious strength of yonder deathless page
On his old cause again ! Ah, then no more
No
The Sink the Right, out by
That smooth-faced gentleman,* bight Expediency ;
ghoul each, proud of her champion tried of yore,
d take the field in golden panoPiY,
_Nor sutaiffer hapless Britain to be made
(The l3rin of Montrose and of Dundee !)
.40 sordid tricksters but a stock in trade,
s • °se Public face is a dissolving view
Still shifting to fresh frauds and juggles ever new.

That —alio Purpose-changer, that sly devil,
That smooth-faced gentleman, tickling cornmodity.
Sing John.

NOTICES.
The 7t.
fV„ZIe Pathological Nature of Cholera, and an
rble Method of Treating It. By George Stuart
Co, e, M.D. London : Simpkin, Marshall, and
Ata'
its a time when this dreaded scourge is rapidly making
widproach towards Western Europe, any publication
eiteitc-ia. tends to prevent an exaggerated' alarm being ex-
information the public mind is opportune and valuable. The
nature however, regarding its true pathological
conth;„' a,nd the treatment to be adopted for its cure,
valna'Veu in the letters of Dr. Hawthorne, is peculiarly
ties, as assuring us, as the result of extensive prac-
as it h at the disease is not nearly so much to be dreaded
to yields to en,
be and that it may almost invariably be made
medical treatment.
Dr. Hawthorne regards the cholera as " produced by
econe insPecifie agent, of disturbing influence on the animal
raneanY' forced from the bowels of the earth by subter- '
various commotion" ; and is led to this conclusion by
Pass 2; reasons, amongst which is the fact that in its
soma- over the globe it has invariably skipped over
e districts, and that it has never been known to have
been
propagated by contagion. Its primary operation be
"WiceiVeS to be upon the brain and nervous system, which
are Paralysed in eir tone and energy, producing directly
aclinainution of the contractible power of all the muscular
fibres of the body. The blood and fluids of the body are
Ltiriven from the external to the inward surfaces ; the in-
(astines become incapable of retention, and ultimately the
serum of the blood escapes ; the crude part is as it were
%tided, producing the blueness of the skin remarked in
the late stage of the disease, and the vital powers become
ezhausted.
Dr. Hawthorne describes four states of cholera, vary-
m; in intensity and danger as well as in their symptoms,
the last and most malignant form being, very singularly,
unattended with pain, vomiting, or cramps, and not un-
P'equently hurrying the patient into the state of collapse
la half an hour after being seized. The remedies applied,
however, only differ in the quantity of medicine to be
of ministered. The first step to be taken is the placing
;Lae patient in a horizontal position, which favours the
tore forcible influx of the blood to the brain, and arrests
re escape of the serous fluids into the stomach or bowels.
one next step is the application of a remedial agent,
bruin being found to be the only one available, and
pedinZ., calomel and other medicines resorted to being
ositively injurious. This is to be givel promptly in a
thlahrge dose, proportioned, however, to the malignancy of
e case, ten or twelve grains of powdered opium being
,e_claantity for the most malignant, and four for slight
,7;:r. This is given in pills, made up in combination
medicines of a cordial, stimulating, and anti-spasmo-
tiegctuhraeracter, followed immediately by a draft containing
of opium, chloric ether, and other anti-spasmo-
jai" nod the whole washed down with a glass of undi-
ed brandy or whiskey, impregnated strongly with some
aromatic spice. In the meantime the patient is to be
covered with an extra blanket and perspiration endea-
voured to be urged by the application of bags of hot salt,
tiand, or bottles of hot water. As soon as such perspira-
st °ronas been secured, a glass of hot brandy punch, very
Neves • should be given to feed it. This perspiration re-
,,at once the symptoms, and is relied upon as the
ell'ing agent in the cure, determinating the action of the Blood to the surface of the body, from which it had with-
-In'a• The subsequent treatment is also laid down, and
„a?' simple For this, however, and for more ample
details, must refer the reader to the pamphlet itself.
„ course, writing non-professionally, we cannot offer
711 ()Pinion as to the general safety and advantages of Dr.
pathorne's mode of treatment, which ought to be re-
IcV anon. It appears, however throughout to bee well
apted to meet the different Phases and stages of the
chsFase, as explained by him ; and we cannot but attach
weight to the testimonials furnished of its perfect success
-as applied by him in Belfast, Dungannon, and other
n_nions in Ireland. We cordially agree with Dr. Haw-
!Yorne, that it is the duty of the Health Committees and the authorities of all large towns or country districts to
make
the most prompt and liberal preparations against
the visitation of this dreadful malady, which could be
rae without inflicting the slightest shock upon the pub-
'c Mind, inasmuch as it is clearly ascertained that pa-
o!lerits of every class are most effectively treated in their
aO homes, and removal to hospitals not only unneces-
Y but injurious.

e'raser's Magazine. London : John W. Parker, West
Strand.
valbe contents of Fraser this month are of an unusually
fedwhi! character ; yet we can scarcely particularise one by
„beli. the general reader may not be interested. The
K"; ing paper is a review of our position with respect to
ill many points of which we heartily coincide. The
wirig passage very justly and truly describes the
A„ , RESULT OF OUR SORDID FOREIGN POLICY.
11 v"(' nOW that eighteen years have passed since the French
be,:olution, and fourteen since the Quadruple Alliance, may
11(4 fairly ask the question, In what manner has Rngland
efitted from her foreign policy ? We are not attacking Lord
fi,",",..lcserston or Lord Aberdeen, w are appealing, not to Down-
ba.a
,treet, but to St. Stephen's ;for the House of Commons_
State" right to throw all responsibility upon any secretary of
went c°r any set of ministers. The conduct of every gnvern-
ilietr"ue tendency of every treaty, every alliance, is subject to
Ise ac''bni:oval. It is too late to turn round now and say, _ Oh,
vote, iecl in ignorance ; we did not know the tendency of our
filleBti The questions agitated up
refore,on each of these crises were
b,, uns of pr inciple . Again, the we ask, In what have
rie,i'dein the gainers ? Are our relations with France. more
'Y ? Have we grown into the affections of the Spaniards?
ne,,,,e we even the proud consciousness of knowing that we
.kiaj deserted an ally in his extremity, a friend in his need?
fora ,We, are now beginning to suffer, and long shall we suffer,
uklee.licY which was based upon nothing but vaguwavering,
ths ionite objects ; we have always endeavoured to shout with
licalrhuoclest ; we cast aside the great, old, glorious line th
netb-a, to support branches of the sovereign. houses, which,
'he o,rn Prance or Spain, represented nothing—neither, on
chter-e„uand, the expressed will 9f the people, nor, on
plain
-
titode, I.ve supported anarchyy.represented by a tur u
our c,,'.111 the vain hope of enlisting that turbulent. multitude_ in
Dre '"r; we have bowed before usurpation in whatever form
and tile, Painful consequence is, that we have lost the confidence
Rill o,;',.De- There is scarcely a minister, scarcely a power, who
ail b„ echo te wors of the ue e Stomayr, and confirm
view `dP er, that h
in all d
treaties D
wek haved hado but one object in
1201 Cy ~„"r own personal aggrandizement.. It is true that this
little have preserved peace, admitting that we have for
fronl ttle time warded off the terrors of war; but exemption
the hiesreat calamity may, like personal blessings, like the life
.P,i•cierhe, be purchased too dearly—et propter vitam vivendi
Nhave (zuBaB. Peace is purchased too dearly,. if to secure it
Ale prime
TI any way sacrificed the moral convictions of theppo-
ati
.have led them to imagine that there is no such thing
confidesciple in politics. Above all, if we have weakened their
to b_.ce in the right ofthe sovereign ; if we have taught them
tt„syl.ieve. that majorities, or even noisy minorities, are at any
4,,Z) ties tlfied in subverting regular government, then the same
ti th lit, which is double-edged, may some day be turned st ourselves. We may be asked, with some degree of
in
'u we resist the Repealers in Ireland or the Chartists
Rover::n ? and the shallow argument, that every constituted
roo__l..ltient has a right to protect itself, falls to the ground the
t the force opposed to the government gains the least
reartag:e. Novy there formerly recognized, and there still
or tee exists a principle which does not.principle depend upon majorities,
"ver
jnomentary success of a minority ; it is the principle of
for -ITty as representing the Sovereign over all, thereverence
s vice-regent on earth, " R duly remembering whose
authority he bath," whatever may be the form it has assumed.
" The Autobiography of a Young French Widow"
promises to be a good series, as does the " Thoughts and
i3aYings of Lancelot Smith, Esq." The writer is full of
vcetry and originality. Our further quotations will be
from a paper entitled Sketches of the Mexican War
THE TEXAN RANGER.
t"About sunset one evening, the little band was seen winding
rsingle file down the sierra which overhung the rancho; each
has accoutred more or less in a style similar to that which
o,s been already described as adorning the handsome person
b' their leader. Across the saddle-horn of each rested the long
tevY rifle, without which no American frontiers-man thinks
biui.self armed; and over the pummel hung a coil of lasso-me,
Ilse of which they were ca -cely less expert than the
kilY,,,lcans themselves. Before the band rode a countryman as
for the one who had been forcibly seized upon and impressed
tier„le duty, which, from his look of abject fear and trembling
114Za,Tiour, he evidently considered one of no little peril. And,
aioo`,",un. he judged aright ; for far and near the mince:lr ran
1465,5 t the Mexican paisanos, that whenever a guide was
liaele`i,?,), the Texan Rangers to lead them to any. rancho or
fertosl`la, nn which they proposed to lvy black-mail, such un-
th4o :,'ate was never known to return; and the body of more
known to have been thus employed had been discovered
freou! roadside, slain by a rifle bullet in the back, and not un-
nentlY scalped, or otherwise mutilated.
;411,e1 11 the Texans reached the bottom of the sierra a halt was
Vi 4 1:44 and the Rangers gathered round their captain to learn
,s• His eagle eye had detected, at a considerable
he asked
mounted and apparently armed men were riding
4sk`ea,a rancho, and turning. suddenly to the Mexican guide
asecre if he had deceived them when he said that there
NO"7 about a dozen vaqueros about thlac
none oiLL'Y all the saints !" answered the wide; "there were
eveoin .7 than the ranchero's family when I left the preceding
lielaao hat do you think boys " asked the captain ; is the old
I?l,Ying?f' ' '
`(,)ritr,;•-• °Pens his mouth to speak, he does," replied another,
the He'll av Se Paniard "
kt,WretCh toie ijnyhow," said a third, looking fiercely at
be Mexican; shoot the blessed greaser, Joe, and
he e.,,Tving
n7Ver `de sat. quaking on his saddle, his fingers grasping a
--,tltterricifix which hung around his neck, and his white lips
cang a?.l Ave Maria, in his dire extremity. At this mo-
Jeo,„ Ptah' Smith rode to him, and said softly, and in a
Fit ton, .
luieres which reassured the trembler,—" Hole, amigo I
,„ant to a youru gente, corre?" (Look you, friend, if you
!i, see people once more, run for it !) "Aln esta su
y.our house—off with you.).
!„ j 1 waited for no second invitatici. Ave,
Maria,
la, , atd he muttered between his teeth, "bless thee for thy
rsos • gathering up his reins, dashed the spurs into his
hie Bid a
back nd galloped towards the rancho.
as. scarcely turned, however, when the captainho.f
Ajseis with a devilish smile,. dropped the reins. on
.ties
,zisn: mexcp_ and raising his long rifle, took a.steady aim at tl e
tot'irtiered Lan and fired. Simultaneously with the report th
kt ilTan fell from his saddle to the ground, and lay
,ViMed, by, se agony shot ,hrough the spine. The Rangers
tti
ea
rr
ec
setl heedingyjrew a the body; but the last, more m.er.
pistol from his belt, wt bending

down discharged it into the face of ;the wounded man, who
stretched out his limbs convulsively and was dead.
" There's one rascally Spaniard the less, anyhow," he mut-
tered. And without another remark or thought on the atro-
cio us act just committed the party quietly proceeded on their
way.

A WELL DESERVED DOOM.
When within a few yards of the gate, the first object which
presented itself was the girl Candelaria seated on a stone by
the roadside, with her long black hair dishevelled, and hanging
in masses over her neck and shoulders her face was white as
snow, and a wild and almost idiotic expression possessed her
features. Her dress was, moreover, disordered, the upper part
being partly torn from her shoulders. She neither looked up
nor gave token of consciousness of their presence, until one
Miguel, her lover, rode up, and, throwing himself off his horse,
took her hand, and asked tenderly what ailed her.
"Nome tocas!" (Touch me not), answered the girl, looking
into his face. "Quita-te, Miguel, ya no soy como era! Ah,
Dios mio, que estoy ahora desdichada y infeliz ! Quita-te,
Miguel, por Dios, yno me tocas !" (Away from me Miguel, I
am not what I was ! Ah my God, miserable and polluted that
lam ! Away, Miguel, and touch me not !) she cried, waving
him from her.

"Maria purissima!" muttered Miguel, clenching his teeth,
"presta me auxilio 1" (lend me aid), as, dropping the hand of
the unfortunate girl, he sprang into his saddle and dashed into
the gate of the rancho before his companions had time to stay
him. In another minute he was galloping out, with a Texan
dragging on the ground after him, the noose of Miguel's lasso
round his neck, and the other end attached to the horn of his
saddle. Turning into the plain, he dashed furiously over the
most rocky portion of the ground, the dead body of the Texan
trailing after him, with its head smashed to pieces by the rocks
over and against which it had been dragged, and besmearing
them with blood and brains in its course. _

The Rangers inside the rancho, when they saw this daring
act, rushed out of the gate without thinking of their arms, and
were immediately set upon by the infuriated Mexicans. In a
minute all but two were lassoed and lanced to death. The cap-
tain and another succeeded in reaching the corral, and mount-
ing two horses, which with several others stood saddled within,
'jumped into the saddles and essayed to escape. The gateway,
however, was thronged with the Mexicans; and although the
crowd opened as Smith, with a pistol in each hand, charged
into the midst, firing right and left and dropping two of his
opponents, yet at the same time a score of lassoes, thrown by
unerring hands, whirred through the air, and horse and rider
were soon rolling over each other on the ground. Smith strug-
gled instantly to his feet, and drawing his bowie-knif,. cut the
thongs which hound him, and struck furiously with the long
and glittering blade at all who came within his reach. His
companion already lay struggling on the ground, to which he
was pinned by a lance thrust through his neck ; and, spite of
his hopeless resistance, Smith was soon again lassooed and
thrown violently down, and a dozen lance blades were quickly
drinking the life blood of the Texan Ranger.
When, some days after, a detachment arrived from Victoria
to relieve the part of Rangers, all that remained of them were
the bleached and well-picked bones, on whin the ,N oh es had
long before most daintily regaled.

PRESENT CONDITION OF THE ITALIAN STATES.

(From Seymour's Pilgrimage to Rome.)
IGNORANCE OF SCRIPTURE.

The ignorance of the population of Italy, both ecclesiastical
and laics, respecting the Holy Scriptures, is complete and
total. I had heard from one, who had resided ten years in
Rome, that one copy of the sacred volume in the language of
the people could not be procured, unless in secret, in any book-
selling establishment at Rome. The surprise and incredulity
with which I heard this statement, determined me to test it,
and to judge for myself respecting what appeared so strange
an exaggeration. I soon ascertained the address of every such
establishment in the city, and commenced my tour of research.
I visited in person every shop, and in every shop was informed
that they had no copy of the Holy Scriptures in the language
of the people. I asked on every occasion, why they' did not
possess so important a book, and on every occasion they re-
plied, non e pertnesso—" it is not permitted ;" or e prohibito—
"it is prohibited." The result was the fullest confirmation
of the statement which was made to me, for I could not obtain
a portable copy in the establishment of any. bookseller in
Rome. I found two copies of Martini's edition in twenty-four
volumes, capable of being bound in eight or ten volumes, and
at the cost of 105 francs, or above four pounds sterling, equal
relativley to six pounds in this country. Under this price, so
truly prohibitive, the volume could not be procured, and on
suggesting the importation of a cheap and portable edition, the
various booksellers stated that the prohibition was designed
against the sale of the Holy Scriptures in any cheap or portable
form, the object being to prevent their circulation. Indeed so
great the ignorance as to the nature of the Holy Scriptures,
though familiar with their name, that one of the most respect-
able booksellers there presented to me a copy of Calmet's
Dictionary of the Bible, and insisted that it was the Bible
itself, and I was obliged to leave his shop without being able
to convince him to the contrary 1

ROMAN CATHOLIC SUPERSTITION.

The word Bambino, is simply the Italian for child, and has
reference to the childhood of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom
the term is constantly applied. Any image or picture of our
Lord in his early age is so designated ; but as the child Jesus
is emphatically Il Bambino—The Child, to designate Him as
over and above all else ; so among the multitudes of images
and pictures of the childhood of our Lord at Rome, there is
one, so known and remarkable beyond all others, that it is
styled emphatically II Bainbino—The Child. I allude to the
Bambino of the Capitol—the Bambino of the church and con-
vent of Ara &en at the capitol.
The Bambino is a small doll, made of wood, and about two
feet in length, not unlike, except in its attire, the dolls made
for the amusement of our children in England or France.
On its head is a royal crown of gold gemmed with rubies,
emeralds and diamonds. From its neck to its feet, it is wrap-
ped in swaddling-clothes, according to the custom of swathing
infants on the continent. The two little feet are seen project-
ing beneath, so that the face and feet of the image are alone
visible. The swaddling-clothes swathing the arms, the body
and legs, deprive the image of all form, but make some com-
pensation by the magnificence of the jewels with which they
are covered. There are princely rubies, and precious ernera!ds,
and brilliant diamonds, tastefully arranged to decorate the
whole, so that the Bambino is a blaze of splendour. What-
ever may be the value of the little wooden doll, which is thus
magnificently gemmed, the swaddling-clothes, which envelope
it, are worth several thousand pounds sterling money. It is
universally propagated and believed among the lower classes,
that if a woman is in her confinement and ' the time of her
delivery is at hand, the presence of this Bambino laid on the
bed at her feet, will insure a safe delivery ! It is also univer-
sally propagated and believed among them, that if any person
is so extremely unwell that final recovery would seem doubtful,
the preserize-nr -tins Bambino will resolve the doubt, -for
recovery or death can always be determined according as the
face becomes flushed or pale on its introduction ! The preva-
lence of such notions leads the friends of the sick to send for
the Bambino. The monks will not permit its presence unless
at a considerable cost, and the result is that many a family is
hopelessly impoverished by the money they give, and the con-
vent is enriched by the money it receives. Ignorance may
palliate all this on the part of the people, but no language can
be too strong as applied to the priests, and monks, and church
which sanction this.