The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-05-28 00:00:00

TO WILD FLOWER.

In what delightful land,
Sweet scented flower, didst thou attain thy birth,
Thou art no offspring of the common earth.
By common breezes faian'd.

Full oft my gladden'd eye,
In pleasant glade or river's marge, has traced.
(As if there planted by the hand of taste,)
Sweet flowers of every dye.

But never did I see,
In mead, or mountain, or domestic bower,
'llong many a lovely and delicious flower.
One half so fair as thee!

Thy beauty makes rejoice
My Inmost heart. I know not how 'tis so—
Quick coming fancies thou. dost make me know.
For fragrance is thy voice.

And still it comes to me,
In quiet night, and turmoil of the day,
Like memory of friends gone far away.
Or, haply, ceased to be.

Together we'll commune,
As lovers do, when, standing all apart.
No one o'erhears the whispers of their heart.
Save the all-silent moon.
Of Earth's fresh shrubs and roots,
Of Summer days, when men their thirsting slake
jo the cool fountain, or the cooler lake,
While eating wood-grown fruits.
Thy leaves my memory tell
Of sights, and scents, and sounds, that come again.
Like ocean's murmurs, when the balmy strain
Is echoed in its shell.

The meadows in their green
Smooth-running waters in the far off ways.
The deep-voiced forest, where the hermit prays.
In thy fair face are seen.

Thy home is in the wild,
'Tong sylvan shades, near music.haunted springs,
"Where peace dwells all apart from earthly things,
Like some secluded child.

The beauty of the sky.
The music of the woods, the love that stirs
Wherever Nature charms her worshippers,
Are all by thee brought nigh.
I shall not soon forget
What thou halt taught me in my solitude
My feelings have acquired a taste of good,
Sweet flower! since first we met.

Thou bring'st unto the soul
A blessing and a peace-inspiring thought ;
And lost the goodness and the power denote
. Of Him who formed the whole.
Anderson's Poetical Aspirations.

LITERATURE.

The 12th volume of the Edinburgh Cabinet Library,
published by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, and Simpkin
and Marshall, London, has just issued from the press. It
contains the History of Nubia and Abyssinia, from which
we take the .following account of a fashionable dinner
party in Abyssinia, which we beg leave to recommend to
the notice of the Beef Steak Club : •

" A great degree of scepticism has been entertained in regard to
the mode of supplying brinde, or raw meat, to the guests in the
fashionable parties at Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia. When
the company have taken their seats at table, a cow or bull is
brought to the door, and his feet strongly tied; after which the
cooks proceed to select the most delicate morsels. Before kid-
ing the animal, ail the flesh on the buttocks is cut off in solid
square pieces, without bones or much effusion of blood. Two
or three servants are then employed, who, as fast as they can
procure the brinde, lay it upon cakes of tell. placed like dishes
down the table, without cloth or any thing else beneath them.
By this time all the gussts have knives in their hands, and
the men prefer the large crooked ones, which in the time of
war they put to all sorts of uses. The company are so ranged
that one gentlemen sits between two ladies; and the former
with his long knife begins by cutting a thin piece, which would
be thought a good steak in England, while the motion of the
fibres is ,yet perfectly distinct. In Abyssinia no man of any
fashion- feeds himself or touches his own meat. The women
take the flesh and cut it lengthwise like strings, about the thick-
ness of one's little finger, then crosswise into square pieces
somewhat smaller than dice. This they lay upon a portion of
the teff bread, strongly powdered with black pepper, or cayenne,
and fossil salt, and then wrap it up like a cartridge. In the
mean time the gentleman, having put up his knife, with each
band resting upon his neighbour's knee, his body stooping
his head low and forward, and mouth open, very like an
idiot, turns to the one whose cartridge is first ready, who stuffs
the whole of it between his jaws, at the imminent risk of chok-
ing him. This is a mark of grandeur. The greater the man
would seem to be, the larger is the piece which he takes into
his mouth; and the more noise he makes in chewing it, the
more polite does he prove himself. None but beggars and
thieves, say they, eat small pieces and in silence. Having
despatched this morsel, which he does very expeditiously, his
neighbour on the other hand holds forth a second pellet, which
he devours in the same way, and so on till he is satisfied. He
never drinks till he has finished eating; and before he begins,
in gratidude to the fair ones who have fed him, he makes up
two small rolls of the same kind and form. Each of the ladies
opens her mouth at once, while with his own hand he supplies
a portion to both at the same moment. Then commence the
potations, which, we are assured, are not regulated with much
regard to sobriety or decorum. All this time the unfortunate
victim at the door is bleeding, but bleeding little; for so skilful
are the butchers, that while they strip the bones of the flesh,
they avoid the parts which are traversed by the great arteries.
At last they fall upon the thighs likewise; and soon after, the
animal, perishing from the loss of blood, become so tough that
the unfeeling wretches.wbo feed on the remainder can scarcely
separate the muscles with their teeth. In the description now
given, we have purposely omitted some features, which, it is
not improbable, have been a little too highly coloured, if not
even somewhat-inaccurately drawn. But there is no reason
to doubt the general correctness of the delineation, not except-
ing the groosestand most repulsive particulars."

We extract from Boaden's Memoirs of Mrs. Inchbald,
published by Bentley, a letter written by the celebrated
John Kemble, which our readers will find more interest-
ing as it relates to Liverpool in its younger days:—
Liverpool, June 18, 1778.—Madam,----I know you love news.
I hope you will find mine entertaining, and excuse my boldness
in tak►ng my sister's employment from her. But why should I
endeavour to find excuses for doing what I think an honour to
me ? Without more preamble, then, our affairs here are dread-
ful. On Monday night we opened our theatre. Before the
play began, Mr. Younger advanced before the curtain, if pos-
sible to prevent any riot, with which he had publicly been
threatened for presuming to bring any company to Liverpool
who had not played before the King. In vain did he attempt
to oratorize ; the remorseless villains threw up their hats, hissed,
kicked, stamped, bawled, did everything to prevent his being
beard. After two or three fruitless entrances, and being saluted
with volleys of potatoes and broken bottles, he thought proper to
depute Siddons as his advocate, who enteread bearing a board
large enough to secure his person, inscribed with Mr. Younger's
petition tote heard. The rogues would hear nothing, and Sid-
dons may thank his wooden protector that his bones are whole.
Mrs. Siddons entered next P.S. -and Mrs. Kniveton O.P.—
'anis aassi infortunder—he glen I Madame Knicetun d la mauraise
fortune de tumber dani une &WAHL-Lion sier le§ planes : the wretches
-laughed, and would willingly have sent a peal of shouts after her
into the next world loud enough to have burst the gates of her
destination. They next extinguished all the lights round the
house: then jumped upon the stage , brushed every lamp out
with their hats: took back their money ; left the theatre, and
determined themselves to repeat this till they have another com-
pany. IV madam, I was going to ask what you think of all
this—bat I can see you laughing !—I had almost forgot to tell
you every wall in the city is covered with verse and prose ex-
pressive of the contempt they hold us in.
My tragedy has long been finished—long in Mr. Harris's
hands, who sent it back to me a month ago unopened, with an
assurance that tt would nut du. * * *

Mrs. Siddons's best respects to yourself and Mr. Inchbald,
-with mine, who am, Madam,
Your very humble servant,
Mrs. Inc.bbald, Leeds. J. P. KEMBI.E.

Sir A. Agnew has addressed.a-circular to his friends inform-
ing them of the fate of his Bill, and announcing his resolution
to persevere in his laudable efforts for preventing the desecra-
tion of the Sabbath. We have every reason," says he, "to
take courage,,and to proceedl the majority was only sizi, the
minority large (the numbers being 73 for, 79 against, the se-
cond reading.) Many friends were accidentally:absent.. Se-
veral members who were unwilling to vote against the bill,
beir.g friendly to some amandment cf . the law, withdrew from
the house ; and even-many of the- opponents subscribe to thy
principle." The letter concludes thus:—" Trusting that in a
mew months..hence, through the blessing of God on your co-ope-
ration, the minds of men may be better prepared for the delibe-
rate consideration of this subject, I have given notice of mov-
ing, in the 'ma seilion of Parliament, for leave to bring in a bill
to promote the better ohisirvanca of the Lord's-day."—Dumfries
Journal.