The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-11-05 00:00:00

SELECTIONS.

A GOOD IDEA.—In what was formerly the Bankrupts'
Ball, at Amsterdam, was a group which might perhaps be
usefully exhibited in America. Above is a strong money
chest burst open, and rats clambering in and out : a man
is fallior, headlong below it; and further down are sculp-
tured the relics of sumptuous feasts. The fellow fell by
living too fast. On the right is a figure of justice, with
sword and scales. It would shake the nerves of the
grandest defaulters to stand his trial amid such emblems
as these if an inexorable Dutch judge were on the bench
before him.—Dr. Durbin' 8 bbsertrations.

RESULTS OF PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.—The .grow-
ing inattention manifested by both houses to the perfor-
mance of their functions, is, we know, daily more and
more complained of ; and this subject is of infinitely more
moment than is generally considered to be. The respect
and confidence which the public have been accustomed to
feel for the deliberations and decisions of parliament are,
indeed, lamentably diminished. The keen interests which
its proceedings formerly excited exists no longer. Even
the ambition to obtain a seat in parliament is lessened;
the difficulty of inducing well qualified candidates to come
forward is complained ot, and the whole relations between
the public and both houses are, we grieve to say, altered
for the worse. The tone in which public affairs are dis-
cussed is lowered, and a languid indifference is, by de-
grees, extending its chilling influence over the representa-
tives of the people and the people themselves.—Edinburgh
Review.

FACTS ABOUT WOLVES.—WoIves howl more fre
quently when the weather is about to change to wet.,
They grovel with the nose in the earth, instead of dig-
ging with their paws, when they wish to conceal a part
of their food or the droppings about their lairs. The
parent wolves punish their whelps if they emit a scream
of pain ; they bite, maltreat, and drag them by the tail;
till they have learned to bear pain in silence. Wolf-
bunters commonly assert that the animal is weak in the
loins, and when first put to speed that his hind-quarters
seem to waver ; but when warmed, that he will run with-
out halting from the district where helms been hunted, tak-
ing a direct line for some favorite cover perhaps forty
miles or more in distance. On these occasions he will
leap upon the walls above eight feet high, cross rivers
obliquely with the current, even if it be the Rhine, and
never offer battle unless he be fairly turned, then he will
endeavour to cripple the opponent by hasty snaps at the
fore-legs, and resume his route. The track of a wolf is
readily distinguished from that of a dog, by the two mid-
dle claws being close together, while in the dog they are
separated ; the marks, however, when the wolf is at speed
and the middle toes are seperated, can be determined by
the claws being deeper and the impression more hairy;
the print is also longer and narrower, and the ball of the
foot more prominent. Inferior in wily resources to the
fox, the wolf is nevertheless endowed with great sagacity.
His powers of scent are very delicate, his hearing acute,
and his habits always cautious. Thv European variety is
naturally a beast of the woods; those of the arctic regions
and of the steppes of Russia and Tartary have different
manners, probably from necessity, not choice.—. Smith's
History of Dogs.
PRECEDENT VIOLATED IN THE O'CONNELL CASE.—
We affirm, therefore, that the good old rule—viz. that
one good count would support a general verdict and judg-
ment, though the indictment contained bad ones also—
was a beneficial rule, calculated to obviate inevitable diffi-
culties; and its policy was so transparent to all the great
inttllects which have, both as judges or counsel, been for
so long a series of years concerned in criminal cases,
that no one ever thought of questioning it. The sup-
position of the three peers is not very flattering to
their distinguished predecessors, with the great Lord
Mansfield at their head—all of whom it charges with gross
negligence, ignorance, and, in plain words, stupidity—in
overlooking, from time to time, a point so patent and glar-
ing. The Lord Chancellor's answer to their argument is
triumphant; and we refer the reader to it. We respect-
fully and firmly enter our protest against Lord Denman's
mode of getting rid of the efficacy of a custom or practice
which has been so long observed by the profession • and
regard it as one calculated to sap the foundations Of the
common law of the land. An opinion, a practice which
has stood its ground for so long a series of years unchal-
lenged, amidst incessant provocation to challenge it—and
that, too, in the case of men of such vigilant astuteness,
/earning. and determination as have long characterised the
English Bench and Bar—rests upon as solid grounds as
are conceivable, and warrants its subversion only after
profound W consideration,_ and repeated evidence of its mis-
chievous operation. as any such evidence offered in the
argument at the Bar of the House of Lords, of persons
who had suffered either a kind or a*legree of vunishment
toot warranted by law ? None : but several cases were
put in which—in spite of past experience to the contrary—
inconvenience and injustice might possibly be conceived to
occur hereafter ! What, then, led to this error—for error
we must call it ? Let us candidly express our opinion
that the three peers were fairly " overpowered"—to adopt
the frank acknowledgment of one of the most distinguished
among them—by the plausible fallacies urged upon them,
with such unprecedented pertinacity and ingenuity, by the
traversers' counsel.—Blackwood.

ORIGIN OF INCENDIARISM.—I shall now enter into a
more particular investigation of the League's assertion,
that incendiarism is " the desperate remedy " for the la-
bourer's "intense misery." Desperate, indeed, incen-
diarism truly is, but a remedy for misery it is not. It is
rather an aggravation of misery ; because, in proportion as
the burning of agricultural property prevails, the misery
of the agricultural labour must be increased. Does not
the firing of unthrashed corn lessen the demand for the
thrasher's labour? Does it not deprive him of the wages
which would be given for preparing it for the mill ?
Does it not, also, deprive his employer of the means to
pay him his weekly hire ? Small as ttat hire may be, is
it not better to receive it than to be deprived of wages al-
together? But, if the farmer's sacks are to be made the
prey of the incendiary's torch, it may speak the incen-
diary's baseness, but how can it improve the farmer's
ability to give employment, when, peat ,ps,
employment
is the most needed ? If the union poorhouse Lc a re-
medy for the labourer's misery, that remedy must cer-
tainly be his, when his master can no longer administer
. to his necessities. If the labourer desires constant em-
ployment at a fair remuneration, how can either be had
by the destruction of that which might, otherwise ensure
both ? Are his hopes of improvement to rest on crime ?
How can the impoverishment of the farmer remedy the
impoverishment of the farm labourer ? Is it the way to
put bread into the mouth of the one by preventing it
reaching the mouth of the other? The farmer rray, for a
while, manage to do without the labourer ; But how
can the labourer manage to do without the farmer, even
for a single week? What property has the labourer be-
sides his labour? But may not the farmer have property
independent of that consumed by the incendiary's torch ?
To destroy the corn of the farmer, therefore, is to add to
the degradation and poverty of the labourer, and not to
"remedy his misery. "=Pamphlet by W. Day, Esq.
FIDELITY AND AFFECTION.—One of the most cele-
brated persons who figure in Chinese history is Heun-tih,
and in him is exhibited-a remarkable case of the success
of well-directed talents. Of poor origin, lie raised him-
self with the fortunes of the last emperor of the Han
dynasty, and finally became emperor of the dynasty which
succeeded it, known in history es the How-han, or Han
restored, under the title of Chaou Lee-tee, literally the
emperor of " dazzling splendour." The following story
is one of many related in connection with him :—Having
been defeated in battle by his adversaries and obliged to
L fly the field, he was overtaken by night, and espying a
light at a distance, he rode up to it and discovered it to
' proceed from a cottage inhabited by a hunter named Lew-
gan. He alighted from his horse, and demanded admit-
tance and refreshment. The host welcomed him, and,
saying he had no provisions, departed for the purpose of
procuring some. In a few moments he returned, and,
placing food before Leun-till, desired him to eat. Faint
and exhausted, the warrior partook eagerly of the food
provided, at the same time asking what animal's flesh it
was. Lew-gan replied , "It is wolf's flesh." Heun-tile
having satisfied his appetite, returned thanks to his host,
and retired to enjoy a short repose. Scarcely had the
day dawned, when he arose and entered an outhouse,
where his horse had been secured, to prepare him for a
renewal of the journey, when to his horror he perceived,
lying across the manger, the mangled body of a female
He instantly returned to the cottage, and roused his en-
tertainer, of whom he demanded an explanation of the
sight he had witnessed. Bowing low to the ground, the
poor man replied, " The flesh you ate last night was that
of my wife ; unable to procure food, I destroyed her to
preserve you; when I did so, I determined to quit my
occupation, and follow the fortunes of the ' great general,
but I forgot the dependance of an aged mother, whose
support rests solely on my personal exertions." This
example gives an idea in exact conformity to the Chinese
taste. Fidelity and affection for the warrior induced the
hunter to destroy his own wife to supply him with food,
while his filial piety forbade him desert his mother in her
old age and decrepid state.—Chinese Olio.
PRACTICAL IMMORALITY OF SOCIALISM.—There are
two things especially reprehensible in Lbe theory of Fou-
rier and of kindred socialists —first, the confounding
happiness with enjoyment, and the legitimating of all our
passions ; and secondly, the egregious expectation of
moulding mankind by an external or social organisation,
without calling in aid the virtues of the individual. The
one necessarily follows on the other. The chain of error
is manifest, and leads, as a chain of error may be ex-
pected to do, to inextricable confusion. If mere enjoy-
ment, if the gratification of our senses and passions, be
the highest aim and condition of the human being, it fol-
lows that all moral discipline, all self-denial, must be re-
garded as so much defect, so much imperfection, so much
manifest failure in the world-scheme. That lofty gratifi-
cation which men have been accustomed to attribute to
self-control, to abstinence practised under a sense of duty,
or in the cause of justice, this is to be measured off es so
much simple misery, or so much negation of enjoyment.
Let all restraint be discarded : let man be free ; but yet,
as the good of the whole is to be consulted in all societies,
and in the new society is consulted in an eminent degree,
the individual thus released from all self control must be
ruled despotically, or, if you will, moulded, fashioned,
mechanised by the laws of the community ; for we sup-
pose it sill be admitted, whatever M. Fourier tells us of
his discovered law of attraction, that a very stringent le-
gislation must bind together that harmonic society,
which begins by giving loose rein to all the passions of
mankind. How the two are to be practically reconciled—
how the utmost license of the individual is to be combined
with the utmost and most minute supervision of the laws,
we leave the socialist to determine. Such is the misera-
ble tissue of error and confusion which these projects pre-
sent to view. These socialists are fond of inventing new
Christianities, and in some salons in k'aris it is, or was
till very lately, the fashion to have a new Christianity
propounded every full moon. New enough ! They pre-
sent at least a full contrast with the old Christianity, and
in no other point more than in this—the complete depen-
dence for the formation of the character of individuals on
the art of grouping and regimenting them. Christianity
has supported for ages monastic institutions, institutions
the most counter to the passions of men, solely by its
strong appeal to the individual conscience. St. Simonian
institutions, or delightful phalanstery', will in vain flatter
every passion and indulge every sense; if they leave the
conscience inert, if nothing is built on the sense of duty,
they will no sooner rise than they will crumble back again
into dust. But we do not touch upon these fundamental
errors of the socialists, with the superfluous view of show-
ing the impossibility of realising their schemes; we note
them because their recognition demonstrates at once the
ill influence which must attend on the teaching and con-
stant agitation of such schemes. On the one hand, all
our desires authorised, and self-control put out of coun-
tenance as a mere marplot ; on the other hand, perpetual
representations that a government or social organisation ,
could effect every thing, or almost every thing that can be
desired for the happiness of man. What must follow but
that men learn to indulge themselves in a very lax mora-
lity, and to make most extravagant demands on the go-
vernment, or the legislative force of society ? Their no-
tions of right and wrong, and their ideas of the duty and
office of government, become equally unsettled and erro-
neous.— Blackwood's Magazine.
LORD ASHLEY AND THE FACTORY OWNERS.—On
the evening of Friday week, Lord Ashley met the Lanca-
shire Central Short-time Committee to receive deputa-
tions from Ashton, Oldham, &c., with addresses of
thanks to his lordship, urging him to persevere till a ten-
hours' bill be obtained. In the course of his speech, in
acknowledging those addresses, Lord Ashley thus adverted
to the masters and the factory system It has been
said that I am the enemy of the factory masters and of
the factory system ; allow me to say a few words on this
point. To call me the enemy of the factory masters is
to call me insane and unchristian ; there is neither jus-
tice, nor principle, nor common sense in being the enemy
of any one class of gentlemen, and particularly of a class
of gentlemen which presents as many instances of intel-
ligence and virtue as any other in the community. I have
never been the enemy of factory masters ; I should be
ashamed to entertain any hostility against that class of
whom I know so many that are ornaments to our country ;
men who have exhibited a degree of generosity and bene-
volence that I have seldom found equalled amongst other
classes of the community. In so large a body of men
there must be, as in other classes of society, some far
better than others ; some, no doubt, very greatly inferior.
If all factory masters were like some that I could name,
there would be no necessity for the legislature to interfere ;
but, in this, as in every other case, laws of the statute
book are made to restrain the vicious, who will not be re-
strained by the laws of humanity and justice. But, if
ever I had been the enemy of the manufacturers (which
I deny), I have, since the commencement of my present
tour in these districts, experienced sufficient of their
courtesy to force, were it.-necessary, a change of opinion.
I must say, that to whatever place I have gone, I have
been received by all the masters whom I have waited on,
and by those even who differ from me in my views upon
this question, with kindness, and offers even of hospitality.
They have given me all and every information I could
desire, and with the utmost willingness. For me to say,
then, that I am the enemy of the whole class, would be
to allow that I am chargeable not only with the greatest
folly, but the greatest wickedness. Now, it would be al-
most equally foolish and wicked in me were I to call
myself the enemy of the factory system. lam the enemy
of its abuses, but not of the system itself. Why, gentle-
men, it would be the very extreme of absurdity for any
one to call himself the enemy of a system by which tens
of thousands of human beings have obtained, and must,
moreover, continue to obtain, an honest livelihood. Did
I attempt to endanger, its existence, I should consider my-
self the greatest enemy of the working people who desire,
from it, their maintenance. No, gentlemen, I am only
the enemy of its abuses ; and those abuses we seek to
remedy. Let us but shorten the term of daily labour,
give, thereby, to those employed, the means of enjoying
their inalienable right of time for self-improvement and
domestic life, and I believe that, in the present state of
the country, the factory system might thus be made the
channel of comforts, and even blessings to this large com-
munity. When I have contemplated a multitude of
twelve or fourteen hundred people, congregated under a
a single roof, governed by the revolutions of a single
engine, all within reach of daily intercourse, of watchful
care, of every happy influence, I have often reflected what
prodigious means of doing good bad been placed by Provi-
dence in the hands of such employers. I do say, when
I have contemplated one of these enormous buildings, alive
with human beings, and under the authority of a single
proprietor, I confess I have'often said to myself— I wish
to God I were a factory owner.' "
EXPLANATION OF THE TERM " RACK-RENT."—Rack-
tent is rent of the full value of the tenements according to
some, but in the opinion of others it is thought that rack-
rent means a rent so high that the tenant is on the rack
how to succeed in getting it together.—Punch's Comic
Blacks lone.

INDIFFERENCE TO HONOURS.-"The king will knight
you," said Anson to Campbell, as they were proceeding
to court. " I ken nae use that will be to me," was the
reply. "But your lady might like it," said Anson.
Well, then." rejoined Campbell, " his Majesty might
knight her, if he pleases."—Memoirs of Keppel.