The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-03 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

MARINERS' AND GENERAL LIFE ASSURANCE
_STREET EAST, LONDON-BRIDGE,
CO,
ARTHUR-STREET
Assurancesj on Lives and Survivorship., Grantinp
Deferred Annuities, Effecting Endowments, Purcha•
sing Reversions, Making Loans, and Receiving Depo-
sits.
SPECIALLY EMPOWERED BY ACT OP PARLIAMENT.
Ten per Cent. of the Profits are ser aside as a Fund for
Destitute arid Disabled Mat jeers.
TRUSTEES.
Admiral Sir Philip Henderson Durham, G.C.B.
Joseph Somes, Esq.
Vice-Admiral Sir William Hall Gage, G.C.B.
DIRECTORS.

The Right Hon. Capt. Lord Viscount Ingcstre, R.N.,
• C. 8., M.P.
Capt. Thos. Dickinson, R.N. S:r George Rich.
Joseph Bishop, E-q. Johri Warrick, E,;(1.
Philip Baker, Esq. Edmund Turner Watts,
George Lee, Esq. E•q.
George Mann, Esq. j John Willis, Esq.

AUDITORS.
Donald Willie, E-q., 13. Fooks, Etq.
PHYSICIAN.

Sic James Eglinton Anderson, M.D., M.R.1.A., 11, New•
Bu► lington-street.
SOLICITOR.

John Hayward, Esq.. 2, Adelaide-place, London-bridge,
and Dartford, Kent.
BANKERS.—Bank of England.
SU.RGEONT.

Charles Ilderton Croft, Eq., 22, Laurence Peuntney-
lathe.
ItESIDENT MANAGER.—John Dawson, Esq.
ADVANTAGES •

ON Life Policies, half the preminms may remain un-
paid for Seven Years, and then be continued as a
permanent loan, if requ'red. _

Thus a Polley is obtained at half the usual rate, awl
may be dropped, at any time, at half the usual sacrifice, or
continued without flesh certificates, although the health
be impaired.

LIFE Policies may all be made WHOLE GLOBE ones. To
those insuring tie lives of others this is often of conse.
qurnce. seeing that the person whose life is insured may
go out of Europe and cause a forfeiture of the policy.
Interest is admitted in all policies on thelives of others.
Every MARINER may now, if he will, derive advantage
from this Institution, either by an Insurance upon his
Life; the purchase of an annuity to commence at a period
when age or incapacity unfits him for sea ; the Endow-
ment of Children ; by a Loan ; by depositing spare moneys
at interest ; by means of a fund expressly for destitute or
disabled Mariners. The word MARINER comprehends
individuate of every rank and grade. whether of the Royal
or Mercantile Nary, Members of the Coast Guard, Fish-
ermen, Pilots, or Boatnzen of Great Britain and Ireland.
But INSURANCES at this office are not confined to Ma-
riners, INDIVIDUALS going voyages, or intending to set-
tle in distant or dangerous parts of the globe may insure
their lives; as MILITARY MEN, MEDICAL PRACTI-
TIONERS, end CIVILIANS: SO ALL PERSONS, rending on
shore, in England, or any where in Europe, are eligible
TABLES OF PREMlumsfor every kind of risk have been
calCulated, and the rates made as low, in each case, /tsars
compatible with the particular risk and the pecuniary
safety of all paries.
The Premiums on Policies to cover Voyages of every
description and service, in every part of the globe, viz.,
with permission to go any and every where without for-
feiture, are lower than have ever hitherto been taken.
Life Assurances and Deferred Annuities deserve the
serious consideration of till. How often does death over-
take men in the midst even of health end hope. How
often are those most dear to. them, wives, children, pa-
rents, or other relations, thus deprived of all support.
Full Prospectuses may be had at tie Chief Offices, it.
Agents to the Company.
London, or of the
p.
HA
yEs
and
co.,
Pemberton•linildiniss, Fcnwick-Streit, Liverpool,

LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONE OF ST.
BARNABAS' CHURCH SCHOOL.

Yesterday the foundation stone of St. Barnabas's
Schools was laid by the Rev. Rector Brooks, on a large
piece of ground adjacent to the church, and situated at
the corner of Greenland-street and Flint-street. The
ceremony was conducted with all the solemnity and im-
pressiveness becoming so interesting an occasion. A
procession was formed about twelve o'clock, at the Church
of England Schools in Cornwallis•strcet. In front walked
the male and female children belonging to the Blue Coat
School, headed by the juvenile band belonging' to that
establishment. Next was borne a large and handsome
white flag, surrounded with a light blue border, which
was beautiful►y worked and painted for the occasion by a
lady belonging to the congregation of St. Barnabas, Mrs.
John Lawrence, the lady of the Churchwarden. On
one side it represented Samuel in the attitude of prayer,
with Christ's celebrated command underneath—" Feed
my lambs." On the other side was an open Bible, with
the Saviour's equally well-known remark of " Suffer little
children to come unto me, and forbid them not." Then
followed the Rev. Hector Brooks and the Rev. Rector
Campbell, the Rev. Thomas Nolan, A.M, incumbent, and
the Rev. Christopher A. Graham, curate of St. Barnabas's,
the Rev. William Falloon, the Rev. Drummond Ander-
son, the Rev. F. Parry, the Rev. R. Davis, the Rev, F.
Barker, and the Rev. Me-srs. Gibbons, Whiteley, Hig-
gins, Stewart, Cordeaux, Bold, Cowen, &c. A large body
of the members of tl e congregation and subscribers t.) the
undertaking brought up the rear, among whom we no-
ticed Richard Harbord, John Sothern, John Biittain,
G. Barnsley, Thos. Rohin.on, Thos. Wilkinson, J. Munn,
T. Clare, W. Mann, D. Clarke, E. Richards, J. F. Von
Bach, R. Ramsey, J. Easton, C. H. Parnell, T. Green,
Esers., the Churchwardens of St. Barnabas's.
Thomas Wagstaff and John Lawrence, and the Build-
ing and General Committees. Mr. Wilkinson and Mr.
Houghton, the Churchwardens for the parish, also
joined the procession. The procession, which was followed
by crowds of persons, after having been formed in Corn-
wallis-street, proceeded along Pitt-street, Great George-
street, Great George-place, and down Greenland-street to
the selected spot of ground, where an immense number of
ladies had assembled, and were accommodated with seats
on a raised platform, for the purpose of witnessing the in-
teresting ceremony. The day was one of the most beau-
tiful which could have b-en selected. The sun shone forth
in all the brilliancy of his meridian splendour, and every
countenance bore witness of inward joy, which was expe-
rienced at being present on so auspicious an occasion. On
all sides union jacks were displayed, while, above all, was
surmounted a large flair, on which wss emblazoned the
spirit-stirring motto of " Church• and Queen."

The erection of the schools will cost, we understand,
£1.532, exclusive of the bind. for which the sum of
£1,050 has been paid to Miss Morgan and Mrs. Sander-
son, the proprietors. The architect is Mr. Arthur Holme,
who has gratuitously furnished the working drawings and
other plans, and thus saved ti e committee an additional
expense of at least £l5O, for which he is deserving of the
warmest thanks of the committee, and the congregation
generally. It is expected that the building will be com-
pleted by the Ist of February next; and as it will be the
only church school for that exten'.ive and populous dis-
trict of the town, we hope that it will be as extenively
useful as its most ardent patrons desire. It will be ca-
pable of accommodating no fewer than 700 children • and
.s it will consist of three stories, the first will be appro-
priated to the instruction of the infants, the second to the
girl.. and the third to the boys.

When the whole of the procession had arrived upon
the ground, and everything was in readiness for proceed-
ing with the important business of the day,
The Rev. Mr. Notart took ti!e silver trowel, manufac-
tured for the occasion from the hands of the senior church-
warden, and addressed the Rev. Rector Brooks, with
pe-
culiar force and eloquence, in the following beautiful and
appropriate terms. He said :—Mr. Senior Rector,—The
=leasing task is assigned to me of congratulating you (for
1 know you feel it to be a matter of congratulation) upon
he happy occasion for which we are assembled, as well as
to thank you in the name of the congregation, committee,
wardens, and minister of St. Barnabas' Church, for that
' act of kindness you are about to perform, in laying the
first stone of our Sunday and daily male, female, and in-
fant schools, calculated to accommodate no less than 713
,hildren. Many re: sons concur to make you the fittest
person upon whom this office should devolve ; vet it is not
your high position as Rector of this important pariah, and
the respect and gratitude with which your name is regarded
hroughout, and beyond the extent of it; nor yet the fact
;if your being a trustee of the church to which the schools
are attached, and the kind and ready co-operation you
are afforded at all times, in every matter affecting the
.nterest of our church ; there is a tronger motive even
than any of these, which decided us at once upon asking
the favour which you hare granted, of-comingamongst us,
=ind presiding over the proceedings of this day. I mean.
sir, this,—that you have already sown the first seeds of
this undertaking, when in February, 1843, in conjunction
, with our dear friend and brother, your co-trustee, the
Rev. Ilmh M`Neile (whose absence from town we regret,
while we gratefully remember his services on that and
other oectiS'ons), you preached in St. Barnabas' Church,
in behalf of the object that this day has advanced so far
towards its completion. No two names could more
suitably be associated in any educational effort than his
and yours. by whose meals principally, supported as you
were by. I believe, your respected colleague, and by all
the brethren of the town, the battle of scriptural educa-
tion was fought and won, not merely for Liverpool, but
for the entire of Pneland. In your presence it were pre-
.umptuous to insist upon the advali ages of scriptural edu-
cation in general, anu church education in particular; but
of this we are persuaded that the most effectual mode of
,ecuring the temporal interests of our children and adults
.8 by attending to their spiritual concerns first; the
happiness even of this world is best promoted by teaching
"the kingdom of God and his righteousness," trusting
in the promise that "all other things will be added unto
them." And the most effectual way of training up loyal
subjects to a Protestant Sovereign, is by making them
cordial and consistent, and enlightened members of a scrip.
tural church. We are taught, sir, that it is a good and
pleasant thing to be thankful; and it well becometh us to
be thankful, for whom the Lord has done so much in the
matter of these schools; he has raised tip friends and be-
nefactors for us too numerous to be mentioned in detail;
but yet without being insensible to the kindness of those
whose names we omit, there are some to whose generosity
snd well directed zeal, we cannot forbear making more
particular allusion. To the Reverend the Rector Camp.
bell our thanks are due for the interest and sympathy he
evinced towards us throughout, in the committee of the
Church of England School Society and elsewhere. Mr.
Edmund Molyneux and Mr. Charles Gr -.Nes are too well
known in Liverpool as patrons and promoters of every
.:oed work to require even the humble tribute of our
thanks for their kindness to us, kindness, that we feel it
to be as much out of our power to acknowledge, as to for-
get. It is only an act of simple justice (would that we
were in a condition to do more) to Messrs. Arthur Samuel
and James 1-lolme to acknowledge with deep thankfulness
our sense of their gratuitous professional services, what
li‘y have done already, furnishing the working plans,
..fications &c., &c., and what they hare so kindly
• peci
consented to do until the work is complete, superintend-
ing, &c., &c.,—,ervices that, were they to be requited ac-
eorrlire to even a moderate scale of ordinary remuneration,
would be underpaid at £l5O. I speak not of the estimable
wardens and committee of management, for I include them
with myself, in returning our thanks to you, sir, and
Mr. Campbell, to the friends already named, and the
generous public of this great town, by means of whose
liberality this work of ours sands nctw on the point of a
happy, mid, I trust, with Ged's blessing, auspici, us com-
mencement. May the Lord repay it tenfold .into their
ewe besoms, and may they find their reward in the peace
and b'essing that, we trust, this school will be the means
of di,pensing throughout this neighbourhood. And now,
sir, in requesting rout. acccp`.ance cf this emblem of the
effics you are galled upou to el:set:urge, permit trlc to add

' the humble tribute of my own personal ac'illowledeement
of the kindness and courtesy experienced at your hands,
ever since I had the privil-ge of being enrolled amo 'gst
the honoured brethren of this town. You will look upon
it with pleasure in after days, as recalling your own part
in the wol kof to-day ; and you will look up frarn
thankfulness to God, who bath led us through diffierthies
and obstacles, and placed us now on the brink, we trust-,
of a speedy completion. And now, sir, wishing you
earnestly much peace and blessing, praying that you mny
be abundantly endowed with that wisdom that comet,*
down from above, in whose right hand ar? length if flays
and happiness, and in her left hand riches and hog our;
that you may be blessed in your own soul, in your Nieilvi
& your people ; that your last days may be your best d 'rt.;
that your declining years may give you a long fore: is!,e of
that bliss and blessedness that is ensured for those that
are God's dear chrldren through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus, I comply with the request of our committee:
and beg of you to take in hand the pleasing office von
have so cheerfully consented to perform. And, `• now,
may the God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray
God your whole body, soul, and spirit may be preserved
blameless until the day of the Lord Jesus."
The trowel presented to the rector was of massive silver.
and was executed by Mr. Mayer, of Lord-street, in a
style of workmanship far surpassing anything ef the k4ad.
we have ever before witnessed. It bore the followiog
scription, neatly and elegantly engraved :

" Presented to the Rev. Jonathan Brooks, A.M., Rector, on.
the occasion of his laying the foundation stone of the sch.-.ols
connexion with the Church of St. Barnabas, Liverpool, Sept. )1.
MDCCCXLIV., Thos. Nolan. A.M , incumbent; Thos. W4staff,
John Lawrence, churchwardens."

The Rev. Rector BROOKS having accepted the trowel,
replied to Mr. Nolan as follows :—I feel myself, in the
first place, sir, bound to express my thanks for the very
kind manner in which you have requested we to take upon
myself the office tkis day assigned me. But, whtn you
ask it as a favour, am sure I consider the obligation lies
entirely upon the
.other s'de. I look upon it as a high
privilege—as a molt gratifying privilege—to have been
employed in such al work as we are this day commencing,
and to be- seltr Viris a person qualified to lay the first
stone of a building which, I hope, will be the means of
promoting both tlte iteMporal comforts and spiritual ad-
vantages of a large body of the population of this great
town, and teaching the rising generation not only their
duties in time, bur their hopes in eternity. Sir, I, like
you, do neither think this the appropriate time, nor the
fitting opportunity, to attempt to say anything upon the
general subject of education; and, indeed, it is a subject
which has been so frequently discussed, and, in try opi-
nion, so finally settled, that it is almost useless to talk
about education itself. The great object
.we ought all tar
have in view is to give it a right direction. Now, sir, you
and I, and those friends whom I ,e-t assembled around
me, and, 1 hope I may say—indeed 1 believe I may say'
the great majority of the population of this county y, feel
that they can-find the right direction within the pale of the
Established Church.' They do consider that the Established
Church of this country is founded upon pure and scrip-
tural principles—that it is her object to inculcate those
principles to as great an extent as her means will allow,
and that her only regret is, that the population has in-
creased in such a rapid manner that those means have
been crippled far beyond what her own wishes'would de-
sire. lam one of those who believe that places of wor-
ship, even when they are multiplied—and 1 ouly wilti
they were multiplied to a far greater extent—are incom-
plete, unless they have a school attached to them;. and it
is one of the happiest results of the way in which educa-
tion has been made the general subject of discussion, Colt
there is hardly a clergyman attached to the Establit-letit
Church who does not think it as incumbent upon.him to
have a school as a place of worship itself. Why, sir, we
are taught that we should instruct the whole population
of Christ's church. We are not to confine that ihstrua-
tion to those adults who are able to receive it at our
hands from the pulpit; but it is our bounden duty —and
we are met in the performance of that duty,—after having
gathered the sheep into the fold, to look also to the lambs
—that we endeavour to bring them up in true Christian
principles—that we endeavour to instil such principles
into their minds as may lead them to fill the different sta-
tions of life with credit to themselves, and benefit and ad-
vantage to those around them, and that. a just, honest
and sincere discharge of the duties which they owe
to their God, to their Saviour, to their neighbours,
and all those with whom they are bound by social obli-
gations, is the best way to secure their happiness.
and comfort here, and to lead them at last to that
rest which is reserved for the people of God. sir,
I have before said that I had the greatest possible pleasure
in performing the office assigned me this nay ; but I can-
not do so without expressing my earnest congratulations
to you, and to those who have bean acting with you, on
the way in which you have overcome difficulties, SUP-
mounted obstacles, and, at last, have been put in the way
of completing a " labour of love " of such great impor-
tance to this ext-nsive and populous district. To you,
sir, and to those gentlemen who have so kindly actl
with you, I consider the parish of Liverpool is eminently
indebted. You have been pleased to mention a c,rtain
number of names, whom I am happy to recoanise as al-
ways taking the lead in every work intended to promote
the kingdom of God on earth; and it is peculiarly grati-
fying to think that their example should find so many
followers in this populous town. Sir, I shall not 'miter
detain you from the work of the day, but proceed now to
perform the office which you have assigned me; and I
humbly pray that the blessing of AlmLhty God, which
has accompanied it hitherto, may bring it to a final ter-
mination, and that it may for ever tend to promote his
righteous work upon earth!
A bottle containing the STANDARD of last Tuesday,
the Mail of last Saturday, and the Albion of yeA,rday,
together with several of the present coins of the realm,
was then placed under the foundation. So also was a.
brass plate, bearing the following inscription .

- -
" St. Barnabas' Schools, for the education of the children of lig
poor in the principles of the Christian religion, in accordance wilt
the tenets of the Church of England. The foun(lathin stone
these schools was laid on Monday, the Second of ,erit_, Ai) 184 A,
by the Rev. Jonathan Brooks, A.M., Senior Rector of Liverpoc4
Thomas Nolan, A M., Incumbent of St. Barnahas' Church: Mrisii-
toplier Alexander Graham, A. 8., Curate; Thomas Waos:ulT, John
Law'rence, Churchwardens; Arthur Hill Ilolme. Arehtteet; Ales-
ander Rule, Robert Anderson, Builders.' And all thy'Cliildata
shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the prase of Illy
liv. 13."

The Rector having then laid the stone, striking it attFe
four corners with the mallet, and utiog all the alley
customary ceremonies.
The Rev. Mr. NOLAN offered up the -following •prayrr,
composed for the occasion :
Almighty G,,d, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 0 thou In-
finite and eternal Spirit proceeding from the Father and the SoR,
in thy name, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three persons and i
God, we commence this great undertaking: thy blessing we involt that thou would'st prevent us with thy most gracious favour,
an) further us with thy continual help. Gracious God and Father its) acknowledge with humble thankfulness thy goodness and merav
which bath followed us hitherto in this work : cram that as it/I
now formally begun, so it may also be continued and ended in thy
name, and ever tend to promote thy glory : out of the mouths oT
babes and sucklings vouchsafe to perfect praise in this place: grant
that many children may be taught to know thee here, in the Gos-
pel of thy dear Son, to know thee, the only true God and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent Merciful Saviour, suffer little child-
ren to approach thee here, ant thou Spirit of Holiness 'descend
upon them from on high, that many from oat of these intended
schools, from generation to generation, may be finally accepted of
God, being washed. justified, and sanctified by the name of t
Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Here, 0 God, we ask -6
blessing upon all that shall be engagel in the future working of
these schools: bleSs, we beseech, the masters and monitors, tiio
teachers and children that are to' assemble in this house: Wasp
also our friends and supporters, those' especi, 1 y who have be,
friended us hitherto, through whose bounty and a rah, owing to thy
goodness, we hye Latin enabled to advance thus far, Bless, ()
Heavenly Father, we humbly beseech thee our s.tvereign Ladg
Queen Victoria, her consort, and her children, endue them wit
thy grace, and make her a blessing to this kingdom: Prosper,
God, all the Institutions, civil and religious, at home andeahbroz}
of our beloved land: Bless also, we pray thee, our beloved....urrr
preserve her front every taint of error, keep her as til anil
ground of the truth amongst us Bless her Bishops, Priests, 1a
righteousness Deacons, ese especially
truth, ()in.
and
makeop :
thendue o
chosen
ny ministersi,ople
i 0 withyfia.i
defend her from her enemies : "destroy her not for a blessing is ita
her: strengthen her stakes and enlarge her borders, that her Sow,
may go forth through the land; ' come ye children hearlif,-n unlit
me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord.'" Bless the de
brethren and friends assembled with us here to-day, especially th:
dear servant who has just now commenced this good work : saVt
us from accident or injury, even to its completion. Mark us wilt •
thy blessing that our hearts may rejoice, when we give glory. to th#Se
where alone the praise and the glory is due: prosper thou the work
of our hands upon us, 0, prosper thou our handy-work thyough
Jesus Christ our only mediator and advocate, our hope ant true:c
our strength, and our Redeemer. Thy mercy, gracious Father,
vii
entreat, thy Spirit we invoke, upon the death and merits of thY
dear son is our only reliance: his words also we adopt, when tan
Say as be bath taught us—Our Father, &c.
The Rector then pronounced the blessing; and the
children of the Blue School, who had opened t he proceed-
ings of the day, by singing the hymn Commencing with
the lines--

• , "Let children hear the mighty deeds,
Which God performed of old,"
closed the ceremony by also sing 4: hymn of
" Lord of Heaven, and e of ocean,
Hear us from thy bright de."
The Blue School hand then struck up the Nationat
Anthem ; .and the who!e of the children prcceedfd to the
residence of the Mayor, at Aiaburth, where they had been
previously invited by his Worship, and where they par-
took of his kind hospitality. His Worship was unavoial-
ably prevented from being present at the ceremony.
The vast assemblage of spectators separated at the
same time, half-past one o'clock.

COLLEGIATE INSTITUTI. 1.7..--We beg to refer our revil-
ers to the advertisement of toithcolfai, lectures, which
will be found extremely interesting. This evening., the
celebrated Mont;ornery will terminate his
course, and will notice the most eminent of our Bri tab
poets, a list of whom is given in tie adve•tieen est. I
Mr. Hinklin's• lectures we h ,ve beard much ,n a.- ,
The sulj ,et is as interestng as his manner of tr ating t
judicious. Mr. Charles Kenable's readings will, io cb
prove t Tully attractive here as in London,:where f shio
able audiences crowded Ellis's Rooms to hear them.
though the sum charged
,for admittance to each reading.
was half-a-guinea to each person.
Miss WHITNALL'S GRAND CONCERT ON FRIEPAIr
NEXT.—We are sure the public must be thankful for this
opportunity of hearing the eelebrat.d
spirited effort of Miss: Whilnall to afford them anothct
Tuesday last, • singers alio, on
deNhted us at the Amphitheatre. The
programme,
on this occasion, is a well select-cc! one and
embraces several gems of musical corepcsiron, 'Mies
Whitnall herself making an addition to the list cf vocal-
ists, and intersprrcing- their Italian with a little homily
English music. In the first act she gives a new si
written expressly for her by Samuel- Lover; and in the
second, besides a duet with Lablache and a parr in a con,
eerted piece, the beautiful Scotch balled " Bonnie Prit,es
Charlie." Miss Chris, iana Weller will perforM "A grand
fantasia on the piano-forte, width to thoSe who irate slot
beard ihat young lady's delightful playing, we need n,
any will be worth their attentlawe; and of which we t•a.7
to those who have not bad that pleasure, gn nn l enjoy
on Friday evening. We have no doubt the house will Lei
j crammed, arid would advise our friends to apply eat ly for
tickCtst if they want to have a seat.

tarrature.

POETRY.

HYMN FOR THE HEART,

BY C. D. STUART.

(From the New York• Sun.)

Give me, whatever fate may bide,
The gut every smile but chase a tear,
One single friend 'mid fortune tried,
And in misfortune still sincere

And on the stormy sea of We,
Through all the lempest and the jar,.
My bark shall calmly bear the strife,
While beams that single guiding star.

A friend !—Ah ! kings.have lost and won
The trophies of a million's toil,
And died, when empire's day was done,
Unmourn'd amid their empty spoil.

A friend I—What wreath, what fame can fill
The measure of that priceless gem,
Which victor strength and tyrant will
Can neither woo nor wed to them

Let every other ill be mine—
The scorn of foes I freely bear,
While there is left beside the shrine
One friendly heart to love and share.

SELECTIONS.

ELEVEN BETTER THAN A DOZEN.—Lord Eldon told
Miss Ridley, Lady Eldon's niece, that the king, speaking
to the archbishop, Dr. Charles Manners Sutton, of his
large family, used the expression, " I believe your grace
has better than a dozen. " No, sir," said the arch-
bishop, " only eleven." " Well," replied the king, "is
not that better than a dozen?"—Life of Lord Eldon.
DEGENERATION OF MANKIND.—It was the opinion of
the ancients that mankind degenerated in size and
strength. Virgil, in the 12th lEneid, represents Turnus
throwing a stone of such magnitude that twelve such men
as lived in his time could hardly lift from the ground. In
the first Georgic, he represents their degenerate posterity
astonished at the bones of the Romans who fell at Phar-
salia and Philippi, which, in comparison of those of later
ages, might be accounted gigantic.—Martyn's Notes.

THE Honitons OF A DEPARTURE.—" Your letter
found us in what we have termed, with scarcely any ex-
aggeration, the `horrors of departure.' All the callings,
the leave-taking, the apologies for the omissions of both,
and all the other external and internal variety and com-
plication of social contrivances for manifesting civility,
and wasting time, and diminishing comfort ; and, to close
the whole, bill upon bill, and new claims coming forward,
when you suppos,, all had been satisfied, while the supplies
which you intended to carry away with you grow less and
less, and you doubt whether you shall have enough to go
off like an honest man.”—Letter from Wilberforce.
PERSEVERANCE OF LORD ELDON.—Shortly after his
commencing the profession, Scott reduced himself into
a state of invalidism by excessive study. In 1774, when
he and Cookson, another invalid, were returning to Ox-
ford from Newcastle, where they had gone to vote at the
general election, the good-natured cook of the inn at Bir-
mingham, where they arrived at eleven at night, insisted
on dressing something hot for them, saying that she was
sure neither of them would live to see her again. A me-
dical friend remonstrated with him on the severity of his
studies. "Itis no matter," answered Scott, " I must
either do as lam now doing, or starve." He rose at four
in the morning, observed a careful abstinence at his
meals, and, to prevent drowsiness, read at night with a
wet towel round his head.—Blackwood's Magazine.

IRRECONCILEABLE ENMITY.—The hatred between the
late kings of Prussia and England began by the quarrel
they had when boys, and was carried on with the greatest
inveteracy on both sides, to the day of their deaths.
George called Frederick, " My brother the sergeant,"
and Frederick, George, " My brother the dancing Inas:.
ter." When the king of Prussia was on his death-bed,
and was surrounded by his queen, his sons, &c., he asked
the priest, " Must I, to go to Paradise, forgive all my
enemies ?" On receiving for answer that without it it
was impossible, he turned round to his queen and said,
" Well then Dorothy, write and tell your brother I for-
give him for all the injury he has done me. Yes, tell him
I forgive him ; but wait till I am dead."—Diary of the
Earl of Malmesbury.
SITE OF APSLEY HOUSE.—On this site stood a cele-
brated tavern, or better kind of public-house, called the
Hercules Pillars. Fielding brings Squire Western to this
house, and here that bluff old soldier the Marquess of
Granby would drink his second glass and pass his joke
with mine host of the Hercules Pillars, callous to the at-
tacks of Junius and unconscious of the existence of a boy
destined in early manhood to take up his stately resi-
dence on this spot. What Abila and Calpe were to the
ancients the Hercules Pillars at Hyde Park Corner was to
our London forefathers. The limits of London got no
further, and all our milestones on the great west road
were measured from this spot
Soon as I enter at my country door,
My mind resumes the thread it dropt before,
Thoughts which at Hyde Park Corner I forgot,
Meet and rejoin me in the pensive grot."
Fraser's Magazine.
LEGAL SAGACITY.—Lord Eldon's sagacity gave him
additional triumphs on the northern circuit, where he soon
took.the lead. He was counsel in a cause which depended
on his being able to make out who was the founder of an
ancient chapel in the neighbourhood. " I went to view
it," said Lord Eldon. " There was nothing to be ob-
served which gave any indication of his date or history.
However, I remarked that the ten commandments were
written on some old plaster, which, from its position, I
conjectured might cover an arch. Acting on this, I bribed
the clerk with five shillings to allow me to chip away a
part of the plaster; and after two or three attempts, I
found the keystone of an arch, on which were engraved
the arms of an ancestor of one of the parties. This evi-
dence decided the cause. Here was an instance of good-
luck, undoubtedly, but also of great diligence and great
sagacity. A negligent counsel would never have thought
of examining the chapel in person ; a dull counsel would
never have thought of examining the arch ; but it happens
that the sagacious are generally lucky and that, therefore,
the first quality is sagacity.—Blackwood's Magazine.

DATES.—Dates so well known and so esteemed in an-
cient times, are oftener served at dessert in Spain, Italy,
and the south of France than in England. Theophrastus,
Plutarch, and Pliny speak in rather extravagant terms of
the date tree, and the excellence of its fruit. Nicholas of
Damascus' in Syria, one of the most distinguished mem-
ber of the Peripathetic school, sent to the Emperor Au-
gustus the famous dates that grow in the valley of Jericho.
Pliny says they are so thick, that four ranged together
would be the length of a cubit. This fruit is gathered in
the autumn, and dried in the sun. The Tunisian dates
are the best ; they are pulpy, mucilaginous, saccharine,
and nutritious. The expressed juice of the grape yields a
syrup, which serves as a substitute for butter, and is used
as a seasoning. Lemery says that those who feed on dates
are generally afflicted with the scurvy, and lose their
teeth. We have always considered them a dry and strin-
gent fruit. Though incentive to wine, they are indigesti-
ble, and, in Spain, have generally a harsh, rough, and
unpleasant taste.—Fraser.
AGES OF SENATORS IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES.—A
more just limit seems to have been fixed by our legislators
—a more happy medium between excess of encourage-
ment to juvenile loquacity and harsh prohibition, than
was achieved by the senates of ancient or modern times.
The councils of Athens and Sparta were composed of
greybeards of 50; at Rome, with better discretion, the
statutable age for admission is said to have been 35. Our
volatile neighbours appear to have erred in deference to
classical authority, no deputy being introduced to the
chamber before 40. In America, the president of the
congress must be 35 years of age, every senator must be
30, every member of the house of representatives 25. The
same period, 25 years complete, was the statutable age at
which every Venetian noble had a right to take his seat at
the great council. But the names of those who had passed
the age of 20 were annually put into an urn, and four-
fifths elected by lot. " Were spinsters allowed to vote,"
said Cobbett, and to vote by ballot, what mass of youth
and beauty would St. Stephen's exhibit !" Even as it is,
the majority of members have often been estimated as
under 35 years of age.—Townsend's House of Commons.
AN ETON SCENE.—It was about an hour before sun-
set, the day of this very breakfast, and a good number of
boys in lounging groups, were collected in the Long
Walk. The sports and matches of the day were over.
Criticism had succeeded to action in sculling and in
cricket. They talked over the exploits of the morning ;
canvassed the merits of the competitors, marked the fel-
low whose play or whose stroke was improving, glanced
at another, whose promise had not been fulfilled ; dis-
cussed the pretensions, and adjudged the palm. Thus
public opinion is formed. Some too might be seen with
their books and exercises, intent on the inevitable and im-
pending tasks. Among these, some unhappy wight in the
remove wandering about with his hat after parochial
fashion, seeking relief in the shape of a verse. A hard lot
this, to know that you must be delivered of fourteen verses
at least in the twenty-four hours, and to be conscious that
you are pregnant of none. The lesser boys, urchins of
tender years, clustered like flies round the baskets of cer-
tain vendors of sugary delicacies that rested on the Long
Walk wall. The pallid countenance, the lack-lustre eye,
the hoarse voice clogged with accumulated phlegm, indi-
cated too surely the irreclaimable and hopeless votary of
lollypop—the opium eater of schoolboys.—Coningsby.

MADAME DE SEVIDNE.—In appearance she was every
way. captivating. Her complexion was of a rare and ex-
quis,ite transparency and freshness ; her eyes were bril-
liant and animated ; her hair was light and luxuriant ;
her features, though somewhat irregular, were exceed-
ingly expressive; her shape and form had been stamped
in the mould of perfect symmetry ; she was graceful in her
movements and attractive in her manners. The fresh air
of the country, and the freedom of exercise which a coun-
try life permits, added to her natural openness and beauty
of appearance and stability of health. * * Her's was,
after all, a very strange destiny. Her course of life was
ever attended with prosperity ; there were no turns,
shifts, changes, or alternations of joy or sorrow, to awaken
our secret sympathies or agitate our hearts; her career
was uniform and of placid tenor, without curious incidents
or remarkable adventes movednd yet, from almost her in-
fancy to old age, she
an
da rnsohne g
ivt.a
sh t
hme oesyt e ll
witnessatriou
ofs
the noblest, the gayest ;
all the great events which characterised the times. Her
descriptions, therefore, are valuable, even unaccompa-
niedes by the exquisite charms of perso-
nages and events she has made herselfy the faithfule histo-
rian, without being at all aware that she was about to
place herself in so important a position. One might al-
most fancy, from the perusal of her Letlers, that she was
the centre figure of intrigues, cabals,
.adventures, and
scenes without number ; such is her vividness of fancy
and the minute facility with which the descriptions are
ILiven.—Frarer's Magazine.

ORANGES.—There is not a more grateful or a less nox- '
19us fruit at dessert, than oranges. Louis XIV. was par-
ticularly fond both of the tree and the fruit. When the
monarch gave those magnificent fetes, so vaunted both in
prose and verse, the porticoes, halls, and ante-chambers
of his palaces were decorated with orange-trees, and the
fruit, then esteemed rare, always appeared at dessert.
The Maltese oranges, were, at that period considered the
fire it ; while the fruit of Portugal maintained a secondary
rank only. But even Portuguese oranges were deemed a
present worthy of being offered to the children of kings.
" Monsieur me vint " (says the Duchess of Montpensier
in her Memoirs ;) "il me donna des oranges de Portugal."
Nloli6re, in giving a description of the comedy which
formed a portion of the famous fetes given at Versailles in
1668 by Louis XIV., remarks that there was first laid a
magnificent collation of Portuguese oranges, and of all
sorts of fruits in 36 baskets. About this period a species
of sweet citron was much in vogue. It is m-ntioned by
Lemery in his treatise on foods, written about 1700, who
says, " that the ladies of the court carried about sweet
citrons in their hands, which they bit from time to time
to produce red lips."—Fraser.
BURYING CLUBS AND THE RATE OF MORTALITY.—

In the evidence of one of the physicians examined before
the Commissioners of Inquiry into the state of large towns,
&c., whose first report has just appeared, we observe
these words I used often to observe great apathy in
a certain class about the death of their children. They
did not seem to look on the death of the young as t e
great evil which is commonly regarded; they said, God
took care of young children who died ; that their death
did not matter much : that life was full of hardships and
misery, and that he child was provided for when it died.'
This feeling I found to be rather common " (3,313, p.
203. The picture here presented is true to nature so far
as it goes ; but the shades in which it must be finished,
we regret to say, are of a much deeper grain than those
vet laid on. There is not merely indifference among the
labouring population of England in regard to the death of
their children ; in some places there is a positive premium
upon the event. The new sacrifice to Moloch is perpe-
trated in this way :—Soon after the child is born it is en-
tered on the books of as many burying clubs as the parent
can command funds to pay for. The sum subscribed to
each is but a few pence, or even halfpence, weekly ; so
that those in full employment can sometimes afford to
have the name on the register of ten or a dozen of these
societies. And the investment may always be made a
profitable one. The hapless child has but to be killed by
exposure, by neglect, and worse treatment, to give these
unnatural parents a claim upon the several societies of
which they have enrolled their infant a member, to the
extent in all, perhaps of £3O or £4O, and even £5O. We
feel the hot blood rising to our cheek, as the outward
sense follows the pen thst is fixing indelibly such state-
ments as these, which will soon be before the public in all
their revolting details, authenticated by the commission
whose first report is referred to above. What comment
shall we make—what comment can be made—upon a state
of society so horrible ?—Medical Gazette.
THUNDER STORM AT WALTON HAIL.—On the 10th
of August, 1842, during a terrible storm of thunder and
lightning, the poplar tree depicted in the engraving to the
first series of these Essays, was struck and sadly rent. I
had passed the day at Leeds, with our celebrated Dr.
Hobson. Havinghad an early dinner, I felt a great in-
clination to get home, and repeatedly requested that the
carriage might be brought to the door. To this the doc-
tor obstinately objected, but finding me unceasing in my
entreaties, he at last consented, and off we drove. You
must know that everybody, rich and poor, has permission
to fish at Walton Hall, from the first of April to the first
of October. Having reached home, I saw that the thun-
der storm was just going to burst over us, the rain having
begun to fall. Seven of the fishermen had collected un-
der the poplar tree; and on seeing them there I ran out
of the house, and warned them of their danger, and de-
sired them to repair, without loss of time, to the saddle-
room, where they would get shelter from the impending
storm ; forbidding them, at the same time, to stay for a
moment under any of the large trees on their way thither,
as the consequences might be fatal to them. Scarcely had
they reached the saddle-room, when the lightning struck
the poplar tree, and sent fragments of it in all directions.
It may be well supposed that we were not long in thank-
ing God Almighty, on the bended knee, for the escape
from death of those who had intended to remain under the
shelter of the poplar tree, until the storm should have
passed over. My father brought it, a plantling, in his
pocket, from a gentleman's house near Doncaster, and
planted it where it now stands, the year in which he came
of age. It has grown surprisingly, and is perhaps the
largest Lombardy poplar in this neighbourhood. Amongst
those who had taken shelter under its foliage was a fine,
handsome recruiting sergeant. He has been to fish again
to-day, and he told me only an hour or so ago, that he had
determined to wait under the tree until the storm should
have passed away ; adding, at the same time, how grateful
he was to Almighty God for his preservation. He said he
had only just got into the saddle-room when the storm
burst over us.— Waterton's Essays on Natural History.
EXTENSIVE AND FATAL USE OF " GODFREY'S CDR-
DIAL."—The inquiries recently made under the Chil-
dren's Employment Commission are very extensive, be-
cause the terms of that commission directed an investiga-
tion to be made into the actual condition of the children
employed, not only in mines and collieries, but also in all
branches of trade and manufacture whatever, in which
children work together in numbers, not included under

the Factories Regulation act. It was foundirnpossible to
describe the condition of the children without giving some
account of the domestic habits and mode of life of the
parents ; and, among the facts brought to light under this
inqury, one of the most remarkable is the extent to which
opium is proved to be used by the poorer classes, and
more especially the extent to which it is given by mothers
to their children. Among others. Dr. Mitchell, one of
the sub-commissioners, reports that the medical witnesses
examined by him state that the infants and children are
seldom brought to them before they are benumbed and
stupified with opiates; the usual preparation given being
Godfrey's cordial, a mixture of treacle and opium, known
by the name of " comfort, " and an article in constant
demand. A little girl will come to the chemists and ask
for a dose of it to give to the baby next day, telling him
that her mother was going out to wash. A respectable
chemist stated that he made twenty gallons of "comfort"
in the year, and that there were chemists who lived near
the market-place, and more in the way of the country
people, who made a good deal more. "It must not be
supposed, " adds the sub-commissioner, " that such me-
dical treatment of children is peculiar to colliers, or only
prevails in places far remote from the light of the metro-
polis ; for, on making inquiry of a medical man, and of a
chemist, at Croydon, in Surrey, the same thing was found
to exist there, and in the country around." Speaking of
the districts of Nottingham, Derby, and Leicester, ano-
ther sub-commissioner, r. Grainger, states that the
practice of administering opium to infants, which is very
general in these districts, "is usually begun when the
child is three or four weeks old." But Mr. Brown, the
coroner of Nottingham states " that he knows Godfrey's
cordial is given on the day of birth, and that even it is
prepared for that event." The extent to which the sys-
tem is carried out may be judged from the fact expressly
ascertained by this gentleman, that a druggist made up in
one year, 13 cwt of treacle into Godfrey's cordial. The
result of this terrible practice is that great numbers of in-
fants perish, either suddenly from an over-dose, or, as
more commonly happens, slowly, painfully, and insidi-
ously. Those who escape with life become pale and
sickly children, often half idiotic, and always with a
ruined constitution." " Compared with this," adds the
sub-commissioner, " the Chinese practice of infanticide
may be called merciful."—Evidence of Dr. Smith.