The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-05-14 00:00:00

SELECTIONS.

ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF METTERNICH.—In one of
the great battles of the fifteenth century, the emperor of
Germany saw an entire regiment tike to flight with the
exception of one man, who stood his ground and defended
himself gallantly, till he fell covered with wounds. • The
emperor enquired his name. It was Metter. That night
at supper the emperor said, talking of the regiment in
question—" They all fled. but Meter nicht." Every
body knows that " nicht" is the German for not. The
family adopted the additional syllable, and hence the ori-
gin of the name of Metternich.—Dumas, in Blackwood.
PAYNISED WOODEN RAILWAYS.—SeveraI experiments
hate been made with the process to test its applicability
noteanly for railway sleepers, but actually as a substitute
fo iron rails. A wooden tramway was laid down near
uxhall, on which 9,000 miles were travelled, equal in
c, it was calculated, to a year of a great Ilne, without
Kraffi
any perceptible deterioration of the machinery ; without
even the obliteration of the saw marks on the beams; and
1000 miles of this traffic were performed with 30 cwt. of
this fuel, costing about 405., being less than one halfpenny
per mile. It is to be observed, that the surface resistance
of unprepared wood is about 50 per cent. greater than that
of iron. On prepared wood the result is the reverse of
this, at the same time that the granulated surface offers a
bite to the wheels which enables the engines to mount in-
clinations impossible upon an iron railway. The process
is also extensively used at present on the viaduct now
making under the direction of Mr. Cubitt, the engineer,
on the Dover line, between the Bricklayer's Arms and
New Cross, two miles in length. The London and Guild-
ford Junction line is to be entirely laid with Paynized
timber rails, as well as sleepers. The chain pier at Brigh-
ton, we may also observe, has recently undergone exten-
sive repairs by wood submitted to this process.—Poly-
lechnic Magazine.
THE WALTZ, GALLOPADE, AND POLKA.—Thoughladies are always more graceful than men, I must here
warn them against the modern style of waltzing, which is
the reverse of graceful, being little more than a mere
romping twirl, intended only, as far as I can perceive, to
make parties giddy. The old waltz, sometimes called the
Spanish waltz, was a very graceful dance • but its char-
acter is changed, and there is nothing either graceful or
pleasing in seeing gentlemen pulling and hauling their
partners on, seeing the pretty pairs spinning round and
round, jostling against each other, to say nothing of an
occasional tumble, till the few who can keep time and step
feel their heads going, and till ladies are forced to lean,
panting, and with flushed cheeks and heaving breasts,
against the very walls of the room for support. Gallo-
pades and polkas are worse still, for few, very few gentle-
men can dance them, and with any but an actual opera
dancer this exhibition is ungraceful in the extreme. The
gallop and polka step, in which gentlemen w th legs wide
astride push their fair partners along, is absolutely dis-
gusting; and I will hold no mother guiltless who after
this public warning shall allow her daughter to join so
brutal a display. In an ordinary way, young ladies may
depend on obtaining easy forgiveness for a few trifling
follies when committed in a cheerful and good-humoured
mood, but let them beware of any thing that is coarsely
ungrateful. No pretty girl, no young lady indeed, whe-
ther pretty or not, should ever, if she values true and
gallant admiration, allow herself to be associated with the
recollection of anything that is markedly ungrateful,
however harmless in itself, and should never therefore
dance modern waltzes, polkas, or gallopades.—Frazer.
MANUFACTURES OF BEYROOT.—The only shops con-
taining native manufacture somewhat worthy of note are
those of the silk-mercers. After having seen the coarse
machinery in use, one can scarcely conceive how such
beautiful textures can be produced by such clumsy means.
Formerly these silks were more or less employed in the
dress of all classes of the population, but latterly they have
been greatly supplanted by the cheaper cotton goods of
Manchester. Still the rich gold and silver brocades, ma-
nufactured in Beyroot and its vicinity, are in much de-
mand among the wealthy Syrians as the chief material for
their gala dresses. Caftans made of this gorgeous mate-
rial have a most brilliant effect. The silk sashes of Bey-
root are also much esteemed, and are exported to different
parts of the East. They are often ten ells long, and an
ell and a half wide ; and, though made of heavy silk, are
yet so fine and elastic that they may be compressed into a
bulk scarc?ly more than can he covered with both hands.
Worn round the waist, in a band varying from four to five
inches to a foot in width, according to the taste of the
wearer, they are a very useful and agreeable article of
dress, from the support they afford the loins in these
warm, enervating climates. It is rather an amusing thing
to see a gentleman rolling himself up into his sash, like a
great overgrown silkworm wrapping itself up in its cocoon.
He fastens one end to a door, a post, or a bush ; then
walking out to the full length of the sash, he adjusts its
width, arranges its folds, and turns round and round, with
great deliberation, till the nice operation is completed to
his satisfaction. The part of the dress above the girdle
serves, as it has always done from time immemorial, for
stowing away all kinds of things ; handkerchiefs, when
people have any, bread, fruit, &c., nothing comes amiss.
As the receptacle goes all round the body, it is equal to
three or four of those large pockets our great grandmo-
thers used to wear.—Library of Travel.
THE MONSTER MISERY OF LITERATURE.—As regards
the state of literature, take out your pencils, (you all carry
pencils, to calculate either the long odds or the odds on
'Change,) and make out a list of the works published dur-
ing the last five years, likely to be known, even by name,
a hundred years hence ! It is some comfort to feel, that
by sight they cannot be known—that few of them will
survive to disgrace us—that the circulating libraries pos-
sess the one merit of wear and tear for the destruction of
their filthy generation, like Saturn of old ; for it would
grieve us to think of even the trunks of the two thousandth
century with being lined with what lines the brains of our
contemporaries. So that in the sear of grace two thou-
sand and forty-four, we shall have the Lady Blarney of
Kilburn-square (the Grosvenor-square of that epoch,) en-
quiring of the Miss Carolina Wilhelmina Sk eggs of Croy-
don Mace (the Belgium Square)—" My dear soul, what
could those poor people do to amuse themselves ? They
bad positively no books ! After Scott's time till the mid-
dle of the nineteenth century not a single novelist; after
the death of Byron, not a poet ! I believe there was an
historian of the name of Hallam, not much heard of; and
the other day, at a book-stall, I picked up an odd volume
of an odd writer named Carlyle. But it is really curious
to consider how utterly the belles-lettres were in abey-
ance." To which, of course, Miss C. W. A. S.—even
Dr. Panurge could not get through the whole name again !)
—" My dear love, they had Blackwood's Magazine,
which, like the Koran after the burning of the Alexan-
drian library, supplied the place of ten millions of vo-
lumes !" But, alas, some Burchell may be sitting by, to
exclaim " Fudge !" Some groper into archives will bring
forth one of those never-to-be-sufficiently-abominated
catalogues of Bond and other streets, showing that, on a
moderate calculation, twenty books were published per
diem, which, at the end of three months, possessed the
value of so many bushels of oyster-shells ! And then,
pray what will you have to say for yourselves, Ci, public!
from your tombs in Westminster Abbey, or your cata-
combs at Kensal Green ? Which among you will dare
come forward, with blue lights in his hand and accompa.
nied by a trombone, like the ghost of Ninus in Semite-
snide, and say—" We warned these people to write for
immortality. We told them it was their duty to stick in
a few oaks for posterity, as well as their Canada poplars
and Scotch firs. It was not our fault that they chose to
grow nothing but underwood. It was the fault of the
circulating libraries, which, instead of allowing the milk
of human genius to set for cream, diluted it with malice
prepense, and drenched us with milk and water even to
loathing !"—Blackwood't Magazine.

PRICE OF AN AUTOGRAPII.—M. de Metternich it ap-
pears, is a great collector of autographs, and of course his
position has facilitated the gratification of this taste. Il is
collection is rich in royal, imperial and princely letters;
nor is there any lack of odes from German poets, and
sonnets from Italian improvisatori. One day, however.
it occurred to him that now the public press had become
a power in many countries, he ought to have the autographs
of a few journalists, in order to complete his collection;
and as in Italy and Germany, thanks to the cens wship,
there are plenty of journals but no journalists' he was
obliged to send to France. Amongst others, M. Jules
Jannin; (one of the edi ors of the Journal des Debats)
received a most polite request for an autograph from the
rival of M. de Tallevrand. Janin immediately took up
his pen and wrote as follows—" Received from- his excel-
lency Prince Metternich, twenty-four bottles of Johan-
nisberg, first quality.—Paris, 15th May 1838."—Black-
wood.

DEPTHS OF THE MOST REMARKABLE ARTESIAN
WELLS EXECUTED BY THE HAND OF MAN.—The
Perforations, by which the Chinese obtain salt water have
been alt eady mentioned ; they are 1800 feet deep : but as
the water does not of itself appear, they are scarcely Ar-
tesian. The seventh bed of water at St. Nicholas d'Alier-
mont, already mentioned, is 1025 below the surface. As
coals, not water was the object of search, the works were
abandoned, but the Artesian well remained. A hole re-
cently boared at Geneva, did not reach water at 682 feet.
At Sursene, near Paris, a hole 663 feet deep has been
pierced; but no water flows: as the chalk-bed is nearly
penetrated, it is to be regretted that the works are nor
continued : it is on Mr. Rothschild's property. The
fountain at Cheswick belonging to the Duke of North-
umberland, is 582 feet deep. The deepest fountain of the
Pas-de-Calais, is 461 feet. T ,ere is a well at Tours 259
feet deep; and one at the silk manufactory of the Cham-
poiseau, 273 feet.—Polytechnic Magazine.
THE RHINE.—" On the Rhine, I am never more than

twenty years old !" says the Countess Ida Hahn Hahn, in
her Brinnerun gen. There only do I feel myself quite
at home. Whether arriving from the Baltic or the Qua-
dalquivir, I have always a recurrence of the same name-
less home-feeling, which renders me at once happy and
tranquil. 0, the Rhine! the Rhine! What are other
rivers—your Seine, and Garonne, and Tagus—compared
with him ? But small and secondary streams beside the
mighty Rhine. There are certain rivers which represent
nations, and ideas, and periods of history—the Scamander
for instance. bringing t our thoughts the days of Grecian
heroism ; when men fought with gods, and in so doing
seemed to wrest from them a portion of their supernatural
strength and beauty—the Nile, the priestly Nile, myste-
rious as a dogma, but rich in blessings as the agency of a
divine spirit; concealed in its source, but manifest in its

operation—then the Jordan, the s ream of revelation, on
whose banks is heard the rushing of the wings of the dove,
while a voice, other than that of man, murmurs over the
waters—and the Tiber, a small and muddy stream, but
the gigantic and sparkling reflex of Rome's immortal
turrets. But the Rhine. that heroic river, which nations
never cross without buckling on their armour for the
fight ; and yet, on whose banks life is so free, so safe, an.]
so delightful. Hark to the clatter of wine-cups, the echoes
of music, the whispered legends, and the clash of wea-
pons I while the old river flows on so cheerily, murmuring
as he goes words of encouragement to his children. I em-
brace thee, 0 Rhine ! and wherever I go I will not cease
to love thee. * * * * When I pass in review all the
beautiful scenes 1 have visited, and then ask myself the
question, Where I would fain see the sun set for the last
time ? the answer is unhesitating and heartfelt, and inva-
riably the same—

' Behind Stobzentels, on the Rhine.'"

—Blackwood's Magazine.

THE INDIAN ARMY.—It has been contended of late'
years, by some public writers. that we hold India entirely
by the force of opinion ; that is to say, that we are per-
mitted to rule simply because the principles of justice a-td
equity, and the respect for the religious usages of thou-
sands under our sway, are carried out to the fullest extent
compatible with human frailty. On the other hand it has
been argued that our empire is held entirely by the sword ;
and our wars, victories, and their political results, have
been pointed at as evidence f the soundness of the theory.
Truth lies, in most cases, between extremes, and there
seems little reason to doubt that such is its proper posi-
tion in the present instance. The highest opinion that
might be entertained of our character as governors, would
of itself, we apprehend, avail but little of the retention of
the country against the schemes of disaffected or design-
ing men, if it were not backed by a well-organized, and
judiciously-distributed physical force. If there were no
descendants of the countless chieftains, who once held
possession of the country, eager, upon any pretext sue-
ported by opportunity, to assert fanciful claims to territory
or to privileges : if there w- re no frontier foes, whose in-
cursions it were necessary to resist or prevent, as much
for the peace and happiness of the people as for the main-
tenance of Britsh supremacy ; there would still be evil
powers within the heart of the empire against whose
machinations the greatest amount of political integrity
could not successfully contend. The Hindoo and the
Mussulman are priest-ridden; and the Hindoo and the
Mussulman are alike avaricious. What elements more
potent than priestcraft and avarice to excite a populace to
rebellion ? while the Zindar's disinclination to pay his
rent ignited the spark of insurrection, on the one hand
there would not be wanting the ambition and the self in-
terest, of the Brahmin, and the savage religious fervour of
the Moollah, to fan she flame, upon the other. The sword,
therefore, is an indispensible agent in the retention of
India ; and it is a happy thing for the populace of that
empire, that the mercy and humanity which distinguish
the administration of a civil government attemper the
steel by which the sedition of the disaffected and the incur-
sion of the foreign foe are chastised.—Slocqueler's Hand-
Book of India.
CLIMATE OF NEW ZEALAND.—New Zealand being
situated within the temperate zone, although nearer to
the equator than Great Britain, possesses, from its pecu-
liar geographical position, especially from its being insu-
lar, and also from the nature of its surface a climate,
so modified as to resemble that of England more nearly
than that of any other country lam acquainted with. It
is moderate in every respect; the range of its tempera-
ture throughout the year and during the day being very
inconsiderable. This is principally owing to the immense
expanse of ocean which surrounds these narrow islands
on all sides, preserving a temperature little varying, and
moderating alike the cold of the antarctic regions, and the
heat of the tropics. The continent of Australia,—for as
such we must regard ir, is too distant to affect the climate,
which it would undoubtedly do if it were nearer; as New
Zealand would then receive an air heated in its passage
over the vast plains of Australia, which extend far within
the t:opics. In like manner, the southerly winds which
although at all times the coldest, as coming from a polar
terra firma, surrounded by eternal ice, are greatly tem-
pered by the intervening ocean. If instead of the latter,
a continent extended to within a little distance of New
Zealand, as Europe and Asia do, with re'erence to En-
gland, it would produce all the phenomena of climate in
which we observe England to differ from New Zealand,
such as the greater cold in winter, and during certain
winds. The east coast on which Wellington, Auckland,
and the Bay of Islands are situated is colder than the
western, where the settlements of Nelson and New Ply-
mouth have been founded, and where the air is far softer
and milder. I ascertained this by actual comparisons,
and in this respect the western coast must have great ad-
vantages over the eastern. In the interior of the islands
the climate is colder, and less changeable, in consequence
of the presence of a now clad mountain-gronn,. and the
greater distance from the ocean. I found at Taupo. the
acacias of Van Diemen's Land, the Ricinus palms Christi,
and potatoes, affected by the fr )st, a circumstance which,
never happens near the coast ; the leaves also of several
trees had become yellow, and deciduous •, the land cape
assumed an autumnal tint, although it can scarcely be
said ever to have had a wintry appearance. At Welling-
ton, on the contrary, and along the whole coast, the natives
plant their potatoes at all seasons of the year, the forest
remains evergreen and the opening of the flower buds is
merely a little retarded during the season of winter, the
presence of which is only indicated by more frequent
winds and rains.—Dhffenbach's Travels.

BRAVERY OF THE KOORDS.—Though pastors, the
Koords are a people of dauntless bravery ; they are habi-
tuated from their childhood to the use of arms and to feats
of horsemanship. Their breed of horses is small, but
hardy, active, and full of spirit, and superior, perhaps, to
every other breed in surefootedness. A Turkish troop
succeeded, in the year 1837, in capturing one of the most
formidable chiefs among the Koords. His age was barely
thirty, his figure was tall and finely shaped ; so handsome
a Koord had never before fallen into the hands of the Os-
manlees. He was led into the presence of Hafiz
and, had he been a vizier, he could not have been treated
with more flattering attention by the generalissimo of the
Sultan's forces. Hafiz Pacha and the cadi of the army
exhausted all the arts•of persuasion to induce their pri-
soner to give them information respecting the movements
and resources of the Koords ; and the seraskier even went
so far as to promise, that, if he replied frankly to his
questions, he would make him colonels of one r,f his regi-
ments. " You are mistaken, Pasha," replied the captive
Koord, "if you think to find in me another Revendouz
Bey. Having once been a chief of the Koords, I will
never be the chief of any:other people ; were I at the head
of one of your regiments, the first thing I should do would
be to turn my arms against you ; and, Allah knows, I am
no traitor. As for the disclosures you expect from me,
you shall never receive them : fate has thrown me into
your hands ; do with me whatever you will." Despairing
of effecting anything by fair means, Hafiz Pacha had re-
course to torture. He began by sentencing the prisoner
to receive five hundred bastinadoes on the soles of his
feet. As the stouthearted Koord lay on the ground, with
his heels in the air, which the executioners were beating
to a jelly, he coolly asked for a pipe ; it was brought to
him, and, raising his head on his hand, he began to smoke
with perfect composure. Amazement seized the two ex-
ecutioners at the sight of such unparalleled fortitude,
and
for awhile they forgot to strike. But the horrible punish-
ment was renewed, and repeated on two successive days.
On the third day the invincible Koord was stripped naked
and placed in a cauldron of water, under which a fire was
lighted. The same questions were reiterated to him,;
but
not a word passed his lips. '`You do not answer, sail
Hafiz Pacha "do you not hear me ?" The Koord raised
his head, and, looking sternly round on his foes, sad
calmly, "Allah be thanked, my ears are not closed; but
my tongue is dumb to your questions." " Whit torture
more severe can we think of to make the fellow speak .'
said the cadi, to the seraskier. An expression of fierce
disdain lighted up the sufferer's features at these words.
" No torture," he exclaimed, pointing to a man opposite
to him, " no torture could be more horrible to me than to
see there, be fire my eves, a dastard Koord, who has de-
serted his brethren, to consort with our foes!" The
Koord thus addressed, struck with sudden remorse,
snatched a pistol from his girdle, put the puzzle in his
mouth, and blew out his brains. The unfortunate chief
expired soon after in the boiling water.—Library of
Travel.

SECOND EDITION.

Standard-office, Three o'clock.

LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET.—Tuts DAY.
An exceedingly quiet market to-day : the demand does
riot seem likely to make the sales reach 1,500, or at the
utmost 2,000 bales, at rather easier prices.

LIVERPOOL CORN EXCHANGE, THIS DAY.

(From Messrs. R. Makin Sr Sons' Circular.)

The arrivals into this port from Ireland, since Tuesday
last, consist of a limited quantity of Grain and Oatmeal,
with a fair supply of Flour ; but except a few parcels of
Wheat and several of Malt, the receipts coastwise are
small. As anticipated, however, in our circular of Fri-
day last, the imports of foreign Wheat have been consi-
derably increased since that date; and of other Grain and
Flour, from abroad, we have to note a tolerable accession
fresh in for to-day.
We had about an average number of buyers at our Corn
Exchange to-day, and from the healthy state of many
leading country markets last week, a more lively trade
was expected this morning ; but the partial decline in
London yestet day serving to counteract the least improve-
ment here, even good fresh qualities of English, Irish, and
Foreign Wheat hardly sustained the rates of this day
se'nnight, and other descriptions, especially the damp
samples of the present arrivals of Foreign, receded ld.
per 701 b., at which a very moderate extent of business
only was transacted.
Flour of all denominations was less saleable than be-
fore, and scarcely maintained our last quotations.
Foreign Barley, of superior quality, was held on rather
higher terms, but the general runs of this grain met little
inquiry, and were unaltered in value.

Malt and Pease ruled nearly the same as last reported.
Beans, although in slow request, were ls. per qr. dearer.
Although by many of the reports we have received, rain
is stated to have fallen partially last week in various parts
of this country and Ireland, we have had very little here;
all the crops around us, therefore, especially spring corn
and grass, begin to exhibit a want of moisture, but do not
yet appear to be materially affected.

ARRIVALS OF CORN,
From the 7th to the 13th May, 1844, inclusive.

IRE- COAST.
(CANADA _ PC). TOTAL.
EIGN.
LAND. WISE. R
Wheat .. Qrs. 536 ( 1514 126)2 14662
Barley - Qrs. 94 768 862
Malt Qrs. il 2848 28 6
Oats Qrs. 1494 470 1100 3064
Rye Qrs.
Beans Qrs. 334 148 2go 772
Pease Qrs. 57 1064 1121
ShelledßarleyQrs.
Indian Corn. Qrs. 2512 2612
Rapeseed Qrs.
Oatmeal .. Loads 1975 9 1984
Flour. .... Sacks '5861 155 6016
Ditto Brls. 1 2853 301 3155

Into Runcorn. !viand ar
qrs.: Oatmeal, 569 loads

Id Coast
; Flour,

ise, Beai
sacks.

LS, 420 qi

; Oats,

EXPORTS.—Foreign. Wheat. qrs.; Malt, qrs. ; Oats,
4 qrs. ; Pease, qrs.; Indian Cori, qrs. ; Oatmeal,
loads ; Flour, 210 brls.--Ireland. Wheat, 280 qrs. ; Bar.
ley, qrs.; Oats, qrs ; Rye, qrs ; Indian Corn, 10
qrs. ; Oatmeal, loads; Flour, sks, 10 brls.--Coastwise.
Wheat, 670 qrs. ; Barley, 125 qrs. ; Malt, qrs.; Oats, 35
qrs. ; Beans, qrs. ; Pease, 11 qrs.; Oatmeal, 203 loads ;
Flour, 469 sacks 119 brls.

Average prices of Grain, for the week ending May 4. 1814.
Wheat 535. 3d. I Barley 31s. Bd. l Oats .. 20s. Id. I Rye 30s. 11.
Beans.. 31s. 9d. I Pease.. 31 s. 2d.

Aggregate average of the six weeks.
Wheat 55s 631 I Barley 32s 74 I Oats 205 14. Rye 323 3d.
Beans.. 315. 3d. j Pease.. 31s. 54.
Duty on Foreign Grain, &c. this week.
Wheatl7s Od I Barley 6s Od I Oats .. . 6s 04 I Rye.. les 6d
Beans los 64 Pease.. 105 64 Ind. Corn Os 04 Flour lOs
Ditto from British Colonies out of Europe.
Wheat., Is. od. I Barley.. Os. 6d. I Oats ..2s. Od. I Rye., is 6d
Beans 2s. ocl I Pease 2s. Od. j In.d. Corn Os. Od. I Flour.. Os 74d
Liverpool Averages, week ending 7th May, 1844.
Wheat, 967 qrs., price, 5,i3. Id.; Barley, 15 qrs., price 31s. 4d.
Oats, 2.,0 qrs., price 18s. 7d.; Beans, 100 qrs , price 28s. 9d.